Slow is Faster than Never

Slow is Faster than Never

Anyone could tell she was annoyed with the result. Although she lost weight from the previous week's Weight Watcher meeting, her irritation was obvious.

“One quarter of a pound? Four lousy ounces!” She continued to stare at the scale. “I exercised. I wrote everything down. I even stayed away from the hors d’oeuvres at the party. This is too slow. I won’t hit my desired weight until I’m 80!”

Standing down from the platform, I heard her grumble as she snatched her purse. “Who needs this frustration?” With those final words, she stormed from the meeting. The next time she came to a meeting, she weighed 43 pounds more than when she left- and was years closer to the “dreaded” age of eighty.

At times it is difficult to remember that “slower is faster than never.”

Few events are more exasperating than diligently following a plan, faithfully monitoring your efforts, expecting breathtaking rewards, and ending up feeling punished for the effort. Hope vanishes, motivation evaporates, and the seductive siren song of harmful habits slyly lures us off track. After all, rarely does one give up when all is doing well.

Success requires enduring many such indignities; it involves making a lifestyle- not temporary- change. Logically, we know that “lifestyle change” must last..well, er, um..a lifetime (hence the term). Emotionally however, we want to experience all the payback, without making the required investment. As a further analogy, we crave the benefits of wisdom without enduring the exposure to life.

It does not work that way. The process will not be rushed; it must be fully experienced.

Success is more likely when we understand the benefits begin immediately; we do not have to wait to enjoy them until we get “there”. To the contrary, that magical land where temptation is non-existent and motivation is ever present is fantasy; there is no better prescription for failure than betting the farm on such unrealistic expectations.

Those who obtain their goals are still faced with the same temptations and frustrations as those of us still striving for our objective. What differs is they persevere through rough periods by changing focus, not by ignoring the delay.

Setbacks cannot be avoided. Although it might not feel so in the moment, each one presents an opportunity to understand the process, ourselves, and make the adjustments necessary for long-term, SUSTAINED change.

At those crossroads, look back, not ahead. The future is always unknown, yet the road already traveled-no matter how short the journey- is lined with accomplishments: some small, others more significant.

Motivation returns when the focus changes. Remember, slow is faster than never.

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Jared Fogle: Turned Weight Loss into Millions

Today was not a good day.  When I weighed in at Weight Watchers, I had gained four pounds in one week. Oddly enough, I took it in stride, refusing to be completely devastated by my poor choices.  I sent my husband and children a text sharing my weekly results, shook myself mentally, and went back to work on making healthier food choices and controlling my portions.

While surfing the Internet, I bumped into a familiar face, my friend from Subway, Jared Fogle. It must be a message sent to help me get back on track. Everybody knows Jared. He's been a spokesman for Subway for 15 years. Subway's Executive Chef Gina Pace says Jared is like one of the family. The company says Jared is responsible for one third to one half of Subway's growth in the past 15 years. His current estimated net worth is $15 million.

Jared says it was a win-win relationship. “I owe a lot to Subway,” he said, but declined to put a dollar amount on the deal. “They’ve given me an amazing life in multiple ways.”

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Confessions of a Fast Food Junkie: Watching My Weight

Up until joining Weight Watchers last July, I had never really thought about how I had gotten to be a fast food junkie. Sure, I've always been a "big guy". I've been 6'5" tall since graduating High School and the all you can eat meal plan at Trueblood Cafeteria at Southern Illinois University helped me solidify my status as "Big Man on Campus". However, since earning my Bachelor's Degree and moving on to the "real world", I was able to maintain a reasonable weight for a person of my size.

Don't get me wrong, I've never fit into that "healthy weight range" suggested on the BMI chart. But, in the sixteen years that have passed since my college years, I don't remember ever feeling "fat". That was until August of 2011 when I was invited to a friend's wedding. It was as if overnight, all of my old clothes stopped fitting and I was forced to buy bigger sizes.

It was strange because 12 months earlier, in 2010, I had been working out and losing weight and dropping pounds by controlling my diet and exercise. All of a sudden, I became extremely ill and ended up having a major surgery due to a blood infection that developed from a diabetic ulcer.

There I was two and a half years prior, feeling great about myself and making true progress in becoming more active. However, the unfortunate surgery that left me with a permanent disability (along with depression), played an instrumental part in gaining about 100 lbs in a two year period.

Of course, it would have been a lot easier for me to explore this series of events in my own spare time. I could have used this topic for one of my blogs or maybe just had a few moments of personal self reflection. That's what any normal person would do.

So, there I was at my second weekly Weight Watchers meeting. Shocked by the fact that I was able to lose 6.2 lbs in my first week (a major achievement for a skeptic like me). As I was asked to share my experiences and feelings about the program thus far, something inside me decided that now would be the perfect time to have an emotional breakdown smack dab in the middle of the weekly meeting.

Now, I not one of those guys that believe that "boys don't cry" or that "real men don't shed tears". However, I was awfully embarrassed by the fact that I was only in my second week of the program... down a mere 6.2 lbs... and here I am crying like a teething toddler with a toothache.

Luckily for me, my tears were not of sorrow. I was overwhelmed with joy and elated because of the small amount of progress that I had made in the short amount of time that I had tried to lose weight. I had spent that past year saying "I'm going to lose weight" and in seven simple days I had lost more weight that I had in the past two years.

Now that I have been a part of the Weight Watchers program for six months, I'm healthier by almost 30 lbs. I'm way more active than I used to be and I'm doing better at controlling my fast food habit. I know that I still have a long way to go to reach my ultimate goal. Fortunately for me, my Weight Watchers group, along with my family, has been such a positive influence and system of support that it has been a lot easier for me to succeed than if I was trying to do it by myself.

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Be A Weight Loss Winner

Anyone who's tried to lose weight knows it's not a piece of cake. But, as with everything, we can learn from others and their successes. One of the things I love about attending Weight Watcher meetings is hearing from others who have gone through the process and succeeded. It let's me know I can reach my weight loss goal.

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Paula Deen and Me: Obesity Causes Pain

Paul Deen is still trying to handle the push-back from the public after the announcement of her diabetes three years after her diagnosis. As I mentioned in an earlier article, my diagnosis came twenty six years ago and I still work every day to manage it. I struggle to exercise, faithfully attend Weight Watchers weekly meetings. and track my daily food intake. I've lost 73 pounds to date and am still counting down. To reach my goal, I need to shed about 25 additional pounds.  For me, it's a day by day journey, trying to look ahead, never looking back.

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