Persistent Focus on a Set Goal

I find that my weight is on an upward trend this Summer, and I’m despairing that I’ve lost the magic formula of diet and exercise that has allowed me to maintain the same weight over the recent past. In the beginning of the year, I was able to get down to a very nice ‘low’ weight, and now suddenly I’m about 8+ pounds up. Many negative thoughts are in my head, such as:

“I’m no longer in my weight-maintenance mode”
“I’m back in an endless upward trend”
“My mind is tricking me into thinking I can eat without impunity”
“I haven’t eaten enough food today, I need MORE.”

The idea that I could overcome this situation by being more persistent hadn’t really occurred to me until the topic of ‘Persistence’ was assigned to us this week.

To digress a little, I don’t really like the word ‘Persistent’ — it has sort of a negative connotation — like being a pest. Being too persistent (stubborn, obstinate, relentless) can be annoying. Best example: Persistent Telemarketers. A persistent cough is definitely annoying. Okay, enough digression.

120_desired_weight

Herewith, I’ve come up with some steps for using the concept of ‘persistency’ to reverse my recent weight-gain:

First of all, I’m thinking that weight is a numbers game and my persistency will be focused on getting back to my set point — i.e., the number on the scale which my weight normally hovers around, give or take a few pounds — which is 120. My body gravitates towards 120 pounds and my scale loves the number 120 — so 120 is my persistent goal. I sure don’t want to go back to the set point I had when I was over-weight (144), because that was a very bleak and bloated time in my life, and it was a really, really long and hard struggle to re-set it back to the set point of my early 20’s.

Second of all, it’ll be easier to be persistent and focused by reducing things down to some simple things to remember:

  • Eat less to weigh less
  • Eat healthier to weigh less
  • Exercise more to weigh less
  • Sleep more to weigh less
  • Decrease stress to weigh less

Thirdly, I’ll continue with my daily weigh-ins, and track my progress. If I don’t lose weight in the next day or two, I’m going to start using an iPhone app to record my food intake, which takes persistent effort, but it has worked in the past to reign-in my bad eating.

Finally, I’m thinking I should consult with my weight-loss coach.

I like having a plan that I can be persistent about.

So, now, with this post, I’ve gone public with my intentions. It amazes me that I’ve stuck to many of the promises I’ve made after sending them into the void like this. I’m thinking that you’re all watching me. You’re probably either cheering me on, following my example, or waiting for me to admit failure. That motivates me to be persistent, committed, and consistent.

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