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Are You Waiting for a Weight-Loss Miracle?

 

goal


We try a new diet plan for a day or two and hop on the scale expecting a miracle. Why?

 

Maybe we believe the hype. Lose ten pounds in ten days.

Maybe last time we dieted we lost five pounds the first week but never really understood about the water weight.

Maybe we are ready to call it quits at the first sign of failure, so the scale better show us what we want to see. Or Else.

We have theories about what is supposed to happen when we diet and we look for evidence to support those theories. And if the scale doesn’t move fast enough, we eat off the diet. And then the diet fails us. Again.

When you’re ready to lose weight, start by eating different foods and moving more. Then blow away the smoke, dust off the mirrors and come to grips with a practical approach to weight loss. Focus on how your actual behaviors impact your actual body fat loss. Know that when you stick to healthy behaviors, the results will (eventually) show on the scale.

When we eat, our bodies engage in an incredibly complex series of chemical reactions, designed to keep our various systems functioning at optimal levels. Food enables millions of cells to communicate with each other in our brains, transmitting messages and energy that we experience as thoughts and ideas. Food allows our hormones to do the work of regulating our temperature, controlling our blood sugar, and managing our growth. Food provides the energy our heart and lungs need to supply oxygen to our muscles to move, work and play.

Movement prompts all kinds of physiological responses that tone our muscles, improve our mood, fire neurons in the brain, regulate our blood sugar and boost our circulation. Movement makes us smarter, faster, leaner and happier.

Trust that your body knows exactly what to do with healthier food and more physical activity. Trust that the scale will reflect your efforts. Be committed and be patient.

If you really want to change, stop looking for a weight-loss miracle. Instead, start to look at your lifestyle and identify simple changes you can make to lead a healthier life. The weight loss will come – if not today then tomorrow, as long as you remain committed to change.

 

 

by luv2run on 09/26/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: Weight-Loss, HMR, motivation

About the Author

Alison Hatfield

Alison came to HMR as a Health Educator in 2005. Since then, she's worked in Sales, Legal, Marketing, & IT. Some say she’s worn many hats, but she’s better known at the office for her shoe collection! Her love of shoes is surpassed by her passion for health & she feels fortunate to have found a home at HMR.

Comments (3) Post a comment
I totally agree, but to my surprise, my health educator does not seem to see things that way. Two weeks ago, I had a very disheartning experience. I woke up that Wednesday and weighed in (a requirement my Dr imposes as I have issues with water retention). I hit my lowest morning weight since I started the HMR program 17 months ago. All was right with the world. Put in a hard day a work, but nothing consumption wise out of the ordinary. Went to class right after work. Weigh in on the HMR scale showed no weight loss at all. I was OK with that, as I always figure as you said above, when the body is ready to let go, it will. However, my health educator was not at all pleased, and he is taking my grains away. That pop corn a couple of times a week keeps me out of the chips isle. I was crushed. Guess I just leaned too hard on my health educator. Won't fall for that again. I will attend, report ect all that is required of me to be allowed to stay on the program and continue to lose, but he has lost me as a team player and a friend.
by DonaReed on 09/30/2012
You're so right Alison! And it doesn't help that the food-pushing media also promotes unrealistic weight losses too - just saw magazine banner that said Paula Deen goes from size 18 to 10, dropping 30 pounds in six months. Apparently her clothing store has a different size system than mine. . . But beyond that, we each do need to take personal responsibility for our healthy lifestyle changes. WE CAN DO IT !!!
by Ozarkdi on 09/27/2012
I like your practical approach to weight loss, I think it can be really difficult to confront my old habits and change them if I am committed to losing weight, especially having to remain committed if the scale doesn't reflect what I had hoped for! Great blog!!
by sailGirl on 09/26/2012