Jan 17 2009
Dueling Doubts and Discouragement
Finding your fitness is an elusive journey often fraught with doubts about your chances for success and even more importantly, permanent improvement in your physique. I was reading a blog recently which was talking about the tv show, “The Biggest Loser”. I admit to stealing a few glances at the show, usually around the beginning and end, to see the drastic changes these folks go through in a relatively short period of time.
In some respects, this show is very discouraging to the casual viewer who wants to drop a few pounds, when the people on the show become ostracized and ousted from the show because they may have failed in losing double digit pounds in one week’s time.
For the rest of us in the real world, double digit weight loss takes months more often than not. If you are lucky to lose a couple of pounds in a week that is good, if you do it correctly and without hurting yourself in some way.
But suffice it to say, you should not weigh yourself daily or even weekly, when you first start your weight loss program. Once every two weeks is often enough and will more likely produce encouraging results than weekly weigh-ins.
Some of us have other obstacles like factoring in diuretics which can cause weight fluctuations of more than ten pounds in one day, although that would be the unusual case and would signal that something is wrong in one’s fluid management practices, like a dosage issue.
Don’t be discouraged by dramatic results from people who are being closely managed by doctors, trainers and are on very low fat diets with 24 hour monitoring. That is not reality, it is trumped up television dramatics.
More fruit pix (apples) because they are good for you.
