Day Six - Saturday, October 29th, 2011
Starting Weight: 357lbs
Current Weight: 354lbs
Goal Weight: 240lbs
Total Weight Lost: 3lb
Weight Remaining: 114lbs
Days Remaining: 176
Day Six reveals another single pound lost, for a whopping three pounds off. I know, I know, that aint nothing, but think about it like this, I’d still reach my goal. I would like to reach my goal ahead of schedule, but reaching it on time is still success. And let’s face it, 117lbs in 6 months would still be rock star success!
I’d like to talk for a second about this tracking process. A lot of people, my cool brother included, have said I should only weigh in once a week or some say two weeks. Some of their reasons behind such technique would be that the fluctuation or the idle days wouldn’t be so discouraging. And I agree with that; avoid discouragement as much as possible. However I have been so motivated before that I could flat out run 13 miles based on my sheer adrenaline alone, but I still failed. Why? Well, I think I’ve come up with the answer.
You see, motivation comes and goes like the tide. And if your efforts are based off of motivation alone or even a majority, then your efforts will come and go. I’m finding that true success comes from consistency. Whether you’re motivated or not, if your reason for running that mile or eating another god-forsaken kale salad is for consistency, you’ll do it regardless. You see, motivation is a sweetener, it’s like a beautiful sunny day. You have to run in the rain too, but it’s so much more pleasant to run in the sun light.
So my strategy of monitoring my progress and posting updates is based on the proven concept of consistency. If you weigh once a week and you realize you haven’t lost as much as you wanted, well it’s easy to get discouraged because you know that you now have to go another whole entire week or two before you’ll see results again. Ironically, this method also often leads to people, myself included, getting discouraged and giving up. But if you weigh daily, and you don’t see results for a day, you know that tomorrow is a new day and you’ll stay the course to see the results the next day. Even in my first week, you see that there was an idle day or two. Well, I knew it was just one day, and that tomorrow is a new day, so I pressed on and now I’m back to a pound per day. At this rate, I’ll be about 2 months ahead of schedule for my weight loss goal.
Just between you and me, I want to knock it out this weekend and lose 4 pounds in the next 48 hours!
Mark~
ReplyDeleteGood job with the new weight loss goal! It is a lofty one for sure. I feel like it may help to have some smaller goals, too. They can be like stair steps helping you get to the top. For example, with the running, maybe you should shoot for a 5K sometime in the next month or so (maybe you already have-- but there are "in-betweens" to help with motivation). And with the weight loss, go first for hitting 10lb, then 20, and so on... Glad to see you focusing on the successes so far, but there will definitely be some days where you won't lose-- may gain, too. Don't let this get you down. Do you know anyone who has succeeded in this type of weight loss goal as fast as you are planning to?
Hey Merill, Thanks for the remarks. Yes, I do certainly have smaller goals. The overall theme and goal for this endeavor is the massive weight loss over a 6 month period, but yes of course, my smaller "goals" or benchmarks are similar to your suggestions.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't personally know anyone who has done this.
And for the running...yes, again! Just like the weight loss thing, I have small benchmarks/goals/milestones along the way that I want to reach by certain times. I'm about to begin a training program for the half marathon, I'm doing in at the end of this endeavor.
I think your right! Consistency is key. A penny a day doubled consistently over time (30days) will turn into millions. But the first few days is just change. But change can turn into something great over time! Great job!
ReplyDelete