Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast
June 10, 2008
I had my first real weigh-in Saturday night. I say “real” weigh-in because technically I am weighing myself every night, but I’m only recording the weight on a weekly basis. My goal, as I’ve mentioned, is to lose about 130 pounds. I plan to accomplish this over the course of the next 18-24 months. That means at most a couple pounds a week. Some people suggest that if you lose more than a half pound a week you won’t be able to sustain the weight loss, but I’m not in that camp. On the other hand, I’m not shooting for 20 pound losses each week like on The Biggest Loser. I don’t like that for a few reasons:
1. If you take a couple years to lose 100 pounds rather than 3 months, then you have 21 more months of practicing the habits that will keep you at your new weight. I have a lot to say about this actually, and I’ll devote some posts to this idea later.
2. It takes far more time and energy than I’m willing to devote to it to lose double digits every week.
3. I think it’s probably smart to give your body a little time to adjust as you lose weight. Now, anyone who drops 250 pounds is bound to have some excess skin, but I’m guessing (and no, I don’t have any proof of this) that they’d look better if they lost that weight over the course of a couple years then if they lost it over the course of 6 months. Ever wonder why the contestants on the Biggest Loser weigh-in at the start of the series without a t-shirt and then in the later stages start wearing a t-shirt at weigh-ins? I’m guessing it’s because their flabby skin is none-to-appealing. All the Extra Sugar-Free gum and Subway subs in the world can’t help that.
So that’s why my goal is just a few pounds a week. I live by the philosophy that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. This is a good outlook to have in any project. I know people who have talked about writing a novel for 5 years but never actually did it because the task seemed so daunting. If they had just committed to writing a half-page a day five years ago, they’d be through their 3rd novel by now.
That being said, here are the details after one week:
Starting weight: 316
Current weight: 308
Pounds lost since last weigh-in: 8
