The Skinny Daily Post™ Short, daily essays on weight loss and fitness from a really average woman who lost 100 lbs. and works every day to keep it off. |
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Journal Exercises, Toolbox, Eating, Exercising, Gurus, Rewards About Friday, January 16, 2004 Weight Loss Peaks and Valleys So I'm Gidgeing and Midgeing with Athena, a Skinny Daily Post pal, the other day, and she hands me a good metaphor: "All human learning," she paraphrases, "is a journey through a range of peaks and valleys." We set our compasses, of course. That much we can do. But the road itself is long, hard, there are retracings, missteps, wrong turns, highs and lows. "It's the devil's job to wait at the first valley to persuade souls to quit," she said. Is that like working to lose weight, get fit, get a handle on healthy living, or what? That may sound discouraging, but really you should know this journey is hard before you start, so you can prepare yourself. You need equipment. You need supplies. You need maps. You need guides and strong backs around you. But most importantly, you need to know that there will be peaks and valleys, dearies. Even the bravest among us could look at the mountain range that faces the morbidly obese, the chronically ill-fed, the desperately under-exercised, and decide to turn back, take up a quiet life in a border town. Don't decide lightly to walk through those treacherous mountains. The many devils in those valleys wear lots of disguises. If you're prepared, you can recognize and deal with them. It's doable and worth it. You just have to equip yourself for the trip. Gird yourself. That means planning for failure. Because you will fail. Over and over again. I promise. Know you will. Recognize it when it happens. Know you will pick yourself up and keep going. See yourself doing that. If you're low-carbing, you will eat a donut when you shouldn't. Know the next day will be better. If you're counting points, you'll "forget" to count for a day or three or a week. Know you will start again. You will overeat sometimes, underexercise, put a few back on, not lose at all. But then you will rededicate yourself to giving yourself great health. You may regain everything. You may lose all your muscle tone, or nearly. You could break a leg, lose your balance, get very ill. But that's not the end of the journey. These are all valleys. You could quit. Or not. It's your choice. You're not done until you say you're done. You can always choose to keep heading in the direction you want to go. Yeah. It's a great metaphor.
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