Losing weight by trusting the process

If you've ever heard the phrase "trust the process" when it comes to weight loss, and it's made you roll your eyes in disbelief, my best guess is that you've never learned to trust the process, which takes time, a whole lotta time.

And I understand the frustration, because I'm going through it right now. It's October 12th, and my plan is to lose ten pounds by the end of the year. Nothing much has been happening, even though I've been eating carefully for over two weeks (I started last month). But I've done this before, and I know that it happens - it's just painfully slow, there are ups and downs, and if you don't meet your target goal, getting close is great, too. I'd be happy to lose 5-8 pounds by the end of the year, and right now I'm just happy that I'm not gaining any more fat.

Yes, I know what the ads say, but they're lying to you. You might lose ten pounds in a week, but you'd probably need to cut off your head. And since it's all about creating a calorie deficit, the fastest way to lose weight would be to absolutely starve yourself, which is no way to live - so you need to gently pull the calories back. Gently.

Speaking for myself, I lost over forty pounds of fat in my late forties, but every once in a while it starts creeping back, and I get back to using my calorie-counting app, and weighing myself every morning. I want to lose weight, not lose my mind, so there'll be no starvation diet for me!

So if you're like me, and are about ready to throw a chair at the next person who says, "Trust the process", I can relate. But it's really true - hang in there, we're all in this together.

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