Lines in the sand

Written by Kim Benson
Wednesday, 22 August 2012 15:03

In life there are things that are precise, one-way-of-doing-it kinds of things, and there are things that aren't. If you are making a soufflé for the first time, you better follow the recipe exactly! Weight loss, on the other hand, is not a one-way-of-doing-it kind of thing.

You can have a successful weight loss day whether you end your eating day at 7 p.m. or at midnight. Success can be yours whether you start your day with a bowl of cereal and a banana or last night's leftovers (yes, there are people who don't like breakfast food). You can lose weight following Xchanges, South Beach or Weight Watchers, or a diet torn from the pages of Prevention Magazine. Success comes to those who count carbs or points or calories or Xchanges.

And you can be successful within a somewhat wide range of daily calories, too.

This flexibility factor in the science of dieting "saves" us all the time. Unexpected dinner out? Change the plan. Thrown off track by a moment of insanity in the teacher's lounge? Fit it in.

"So this is a good thing, right?" you ask. My answer, "Yes, this is a very good thing."

But — and there is a big but (pun intended) — it is precisely the fact that weight loss is so flexible that can get us into trouble. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say that it is one of the biggest problems in most people's weight loss journeys.

The fact is we don't have to plan out our day ahead of time. We don't have to prepare ahead or attend any support meetings or journal or get to the gym. Nothing has to be done and we can still lose weight — sometimes. So we take all those good ideas that we know really help us and we bend them and alter them. And many weeks we squeak by with few enough calories to get an encouraging nod from the scale. Some of us know better and vow to buckle down and do it this week. Others of us scratch our heads and wonder why we're such slow losers. How can we do all this work and not be losing weight?

A "line in the sand" is a "metaphorical point beyond which no further advance will be accepted or made." It is turning the very flexible science of weight loss into a precise (or at least more precise) science: Deciding ahead of time exactly what you will eat and to what quantity for all your meals and snacks. Making an ending time for your eating day that you stick to. Going for that walk even if you already got more activity than you had planned just because it's your day to go.

Can these lines be smoothed over and redrawn? Of course! That's the beauty of a weight loss journey. If there is a reason for changing the plan, then change it — to a new plan. But, have a plan to start with and change it infrequently and only for a viable reason. You will find your weight loss journey gets easier, not harder. You may even find that you're not such a slow loser after all.

And next summer, when you're back on the beach in the real sand, it will be in a much smaller suit.

Kim is a lifetime dieter who lost more than 200 pounds. She leads motivational meetings at The Kim Bensen Weight Loss Center, 911 Bridgeport Avenue, in Shelton. For more information, call 203-513-8722 or visit kimbensen.com.