Although boot camps and “clean” eating are highly effective, the channel for weight loss remains elusive through extensive variables. What specifically succeeds and fails challenges the analytical mind as it scrutinizes the countless possibilities that contribute to weight loss. Did I exercise enough, eat enough, drink enough (water), sleep enough, relax enough (Cortisol levels), and do enough for efficient, maximum weight loss? Am I digestively sensitive to dairy, egg whites, or an unknown ingredient? Slow and steady may win the race, but slow and unsteady, what say you now?
When the weight loss goal, lifetime maintenance, and primary mission of becoming comfortable in my skin, come to fruition, knowing exactly what led to successful results is advantageous. Understanding what essentially worked or fell short supports lifestyle sustainability. What aspects cumulatively are optimal actions, while others slow the process fighting against a tide? Which tasks, compounded over time, cause the weight to drop and sustain weight maintenance?
The unidentified, intricate detail of the body’s complex system releases weight unevenly, slowly, and sometimes illogically. Without concrete precision, utilizing food, weight loss, and health science becomes inexact, full of trial and error. Hormones, gut health, metabolism, and other variables affect the body via a compilation of factors; there is no definite or direct path. Using guidelines and tweaking successful and failed actions to increase efficiency continues the journey.
When on the slow end of losing weight, observing other bodies losing faster than ours is particularly frustrating. Focusing on self-care, individual results, and non-scale successes as looser clothing, muscle definition, and an energy boost, while “staying in your own lane” are necessary travel tips. Although no one chooses “slow loser” status, accepting and surrendering who we are as we are, is victory. When due diligence fails, ineffective results on the scale exhibit sluggishness, disappointment converting to determination is beneficial.
An undeterred journey of slow weight loss continues to follow successful, clear intentions. No obstacles, immediate success, and missed opportune lessons due to ease and simplicity often skip the struggles that teach resiliency. The education acquired along the journey are worthy of time, learning, and patience. The need for the mind to catch up with the body’s transformation, time for habituating the process and discovering how one’s body uniquely functions, validates a slower journey.
Embracing slower weight loss speed is an acceptance converse to our usual desire. We want the weight to plummet immediately and remain that way for the duration of our lives. Yet the slow journey benefits us by teaching patience, perseverance, and empowers a long-term commitment to a sustainable lifestyle long after the weight vanishes. Speed is subjective; bodies eliminate weight at different, descending rates. Each body responds differently to the same variables, making its results individualized.
Until the final, weight loss goal arrives, altering, correcting, and fine-tuning actions along the path is part of the process. Accepting and gliding at whatever rate, leads us to eventual success. The longer the travel along the weight loss journey, greater education occurs with a better understanding of our body and weight loss tools specifically designed for ourselves. When I reach the end, a new journey commences better prepared than if results occurred instantly. As a “slow loser,” a longer, weight loss journey ascends with while weight descends with additional tools for a sustainable lifestyle.