Well-Being, Wealth, N More

I want to create a scenario for you. You started a diet last week, seven days ago. During the week, you ate very little. You were following your friend’s fad diet, eating granola bars for breakfast and lunch and a salad for supper. By 8:00 pm every night, you had to have a snack because your stomach was empty and growling. The first few days of the diet, you lost a lot of water weight. You could feel it. Now, getting on the scale, it looks as if you have lost 3 pounds. You thought maybe you had lost more, but 3 pounds is an excellent start. So, now it is Monday or Tuesday, and you are ready for the second week of granola bars and salad.

With a 3 pound loss, you begin to feel empowered. This week, when you begin feeling hungry at 8:00 pm, you reach for an apple, pear, or a banana. By Sunday morning, you hop on the scale, and you are 1 pound lighter than you were last week at the same time. One pound! All that work (and suffering) for 1 pound. You are now feeling the pangs of discouragement. No one is around to tell you that losing that pound is very normal. If the body loses weight slowly but surely, you will keep it off. Also, there is no one around to encourage you to continue the good work.

The one pound loss is not enough to keep you empowered, so you fall off the diet wagon. Why is it that everyone that is overweight wants to lose the pounds sooner rather than one or two pounds a week until the extra weight is gone? For one thing, our society is used to having things happen instantly or sooner rather than later. Another reason is we do not want to diet for a long time without seeing the pounds come off quickly.

People that are more than twenty pounds overweight, may see the first 30 pounds come off quickly. For example, the first week, many obese people may lose from 5 to 8 pounds of water weight. For those individuals with less weight to lose, 2 to 5 pounds may be the maximum weight loss the first week. This is very normal for both groups. As a matter of fact, those people with 10 pounds or less to lose, their weight loss will be 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds the first week.

People who want to lose weight need a realistic approach to dieting and weight loss. A realistic view would be to lose 1-2 pounds per week until you get to your goal. I realize you would like to lose the weight faster than 1-2 pounds per week; however, your body will not cooperate and keep the weight off  when you stop dieting. That’s why it is so important to use a diet program i.e., Weight Watchers or a 1000 calorie diet, that will be easy to maintain when you have reached your goal weight.

Don’t get me wrong! I’m not advertising for Weight Watchers or any other diet program, although, my advice is to research as many diet programs as you can before you start following one. There are quite a few programs that are very good i.e., Jenny Craig (food is separate and expensive), Nutrisystem (food is expensive, but less than Jenny Craig), Melaleuca (requires membership and a 35 point minimum delivery of products every month), Medicenters (an expense involved), etc. Weight Watchers program also involves a membership expense, however, the diet has two alternatives. The Point System requires an expense to buy the ready-made products. The regular program can be incorporated into regular meal planning for your family with less of an expense and with some modifications.

If you are overweight, don’t wait until January, the New Year, to start losing weight. I know it is difficult to start a diet around Christmas time with all the tempting sweets, parties,  and Christmas dinner. You may surprise yourself by being able to control yourself at the office Christmas party, only having one glass of wine instead of three or four at a friend’s party, or eating a very balanced Christmas dinner with only one dessert instead of two.

Whether you are obese or only 5-10-20 pounds overweight, the best time to start taking care of yourself is right now. Take the time to decide on the diet and establish a goal weight. Decide on a date to start your diet. Also, decide on the type of exercise you will do 4 to 5 times per week, because exercise is a very important part of your weight loss program. You will also need to build in a splurge day into your week. If you know you can splurge, you won’t have guilt feelings. After awhile, you won’t need to splurge every week.

The really important aspect of dieting is you will be assisting your heart, muscles, joints, and bones. Your heart won’t have to work as hard to send the blood to a less heavy body. The muscles in your legs will not have to work as hard to support you. Your ankles, knees, and hips will thank you for eliminating the extra pressure. Lastly, your bones will definitely be happy because you will be exercising your muscles and joints, making them stronger and less stressed. In other words, you will live longer and be happier with less weight. So, get on the diet wagon as soon as possible.

If you need assistance choosing a diet plan or just need someone to talk to, please write me a comment with your contact information. I will respond to every comment and provide personal assistance to anyone who needs it.