Losing weight

Does 48 pounds in one year sound like a lot of weight to lose?  It does to me!

It's ironic, though, that we typically expect to lose weight very quickly.  Let me explain - if you suddenly get interested in losing weight, what do you consider a success?  When you drop 5 pounds in a week?  Well, come on now - that'd be over 250 pounds in a year and that's ridiculous for most of us.  So, I crunched the numbers and used 48 because it was easy - that's only 4 pounds per month.  I figured that out because 4 times 12 is 48.  I did it in my head, even.  48 pounds in a year is about 0.92 pounds per week - just under one pound.  And, that's just 0.13 pounds per day or roughly 2 ounces.  Do you overeat about 2 ounces in a day?  Of course - we all do.  But, do you see just how little you'd have to cut back each day to make a huge impact?  It's just that we usually measure success in a crazy short view of what we want to lose without breaking down the big goal into small goals.  So, do this - figure out how many pounds you want to lose in one year (realistically) and divide it by 52 - that's how much per week.  Does that number look too big?  If so, adjust your goals - if not, then really think about it - go ahead and figure it out per day (divide again by 7) - looks pretty darn manageable, huh?

OK, before I share a cool website with you, I would also flip this around on you - think about it from the other side.  All you'd have to do is add about 2 ounces of junk to your weight each day and you could gain 48 pounds in a year.  Imagine that!  Imagine putting on 48 pounds in the next year!  Sobering... so, keep that in mind the next time a 4 ounce cookie is proferred to you at the office, or you're deciding between a grande and a venti at Starbucks.  2 ounces....

The cool website I mentioned is http://sparkpeople.com where you can (for FREE) track your calories and set goals.  SparkPeople will also help you make grocery lists based on your goals - it's very cool.  And FREE!

Enjoy... in moderation  :-)