With today’s weigh in, and a recent visit to my doctor that resulted in the adjustment of my target weight to 205, I can now see my goal very clearly in the weeks ahead. Even if I settle into a two-pound-a-week average, I will reach my target weight in 10 weeks, or by the time the Mad Men season finale airs. My goal to become this generation’s Don Draper will be that much closer.
Recently, I’ve had many discussions with people that begin with them congratulating me on my weight loss. The discussion inevitably leads into the program, and there’s one question that never fails to pop up.
“So when will you be done?”
It’s a natural question. Every diet and health program, TSFL included, trumpets the speed at which you can lose weight. Our mental process naturally extrapolates our target weight as the finish line, the moment where all of our hard work and discipline have paid off, and we can now celebrate our achievement and bring this difficult process to an end. Part of that thought is correct. Reaching your target weight is an absolutely monumental achievement, and there is no such thing as too much celebration. Hire a marching band, strippers, and some backflipping monkeys and paint the town all kinds of colors. Wake up the next morning exhausted, with marker on your face and Mardi Gras beads hanging off your ears, grin, stretch…
And keep going.
There’s a saying among smokers that every one of them has quit smoking lots of times. The same holds true with weight loss. Every one of us who have yo-yoed our way through diet after diet have lost weight many times, only to gain it back when we returned to the very habits that had us worried about paying for multiple seats on an airline. This is a cycle, one that millions of people go through on an annual basis. The only way to end it is to realize that the finish line is not a set date, number on a scale, or anything else. It’s a constantly moving, constantly adapting goal.
When I hit 205 lbs, the celebration will be absolutely ridiculous. And it should be. It marks the first step in a decision that the habits that got me fat in the first place are a thing of the past, cautionary tales I pass to others in hopes that they can keep from tumbling quite so far down the chubby rabbit hole. But if that’s the end of my weight loss journey, it virtually guarantees that I’ll be back at the beginning again, wondering how I managed to fall so far off course.
When I hit 205 lbs, I will be setting a new goal for myself. I want to reduce my body fat percentage to 18%. I’m ignoring BMI due to many issues I’ve heard regarding its usefulness as a health measurement tool. I’ll use the myriad of tools that TSFL provides to help me get there, along with the help of some other fitness and nutrition experts in my life. It may take six to nine months for me to get there. But I will. And when I do, I’ll set a new goal.
When it comes to being healthy, I tip my hat to the words of Gordon Gecko: “Greed is good.” I don’t ever want to be satisfied with staying where I am. There are far too many opportunities for me to begin backsliding, and I am genuinely terrified that if I do begin backsliding, I won’t be able to stop. All of us who have made the decision to become a healthier person should realize that there is no true finish line. Just a series of celebrations marking the next step forward. That’s not a bad thing, not at all. It shows that there is virtually no limit to what we can accomplish, just by keeping our feet moving forward.
Jan. 2, 2013 Starting Weight: 280 lbs
April 14, 2013 Weigh-In: 226 lbs
Total Weight Loss in 88 days: 54 lbs
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