From My Soap Box

By

Fae Lox

What seems to be a heavy topic right now? Pun intended, is weight loss. Granted, when hasn’t it been a leading topic? 

As of late, it’s all about intermediate fasting, weight loss shots, counting carbohydrates, and circuit training, from Pilates to neglected gym memberships to the fear of diabetes and heart attacks; it’s simply overwhelming.

Along your journey, no matter what you’re doing to change, your results may be underwhelming.

Possibly, you’re not seeing that big drop you expected when you started, like the infomercial people wearing oversized jeans pulling at their waists.

Let’s not forget that friend of a friend who apparently dropped a whole person’s worth of weight in five days and lives the best life now.

By the way, I’ve never actually met this person; I only heard about this mythical creature.

For some of us, it comes a little slower. Don’t be discouraged. It’s easy not to cherish our little wins, like our one or two pounds down, like we should.

If I only had one or two dollars in my bank account, I wouldn’t be beaming with pride either.

Moreover, when thinking of pounds, you can’t focus on the scale number; you must visualize the loss number.

Say I lost 1 pound. Have you seen a box of butter with four sticks? That’s a pound. Think of a canned good like pork and beans. That’s a tad less than a pound.

 Now throw that at someone’s head in aisle seven and see how much damage you’ll do.

Likewise, a pint of milk is about a pound. You see, you didn’t lose a dollar bill. You lost a whole can of chili.

Let’s not argue over dry and wet measures for my cooks. My point remains. Don’t hear the number; picture it. Then, you can appreciate your success, no matter how big or small.

Some of us who reach greater feats develop impostor syndrome. We discredit how much smaller we’ve gotten due to perception.

I have a 13-pound bag of cat food that gives me a run for my money every time I pick it up. Picture that enormous bag of kitty litter in my closet.

Yep. That’s how much of you that is no longer there. So, stay encouraged and keep up the good work.