What Happens When You Stop?

I don't know about you, but I like projects that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Say, writing a book. Painting a landscape. Composing a song. Things that have a beginning but no end are, for me, at least, much more difficult. Things that go on and on. Planning and maintaining a garden. The daily grind of housework. Maintaining weight loss after a diet.

With things like Project Style A, you know where you're going (most of the time) and how to get there. It's like having a road map (or, for some of you, GPS). You start, you keep on going until the end is in sight, then you finish. You're done. The book is completed. (It may need revisions, but you have a first draft in your hands.) The painting is finished, sitting there on the easel, drying. It may not be a masterpiece, but it's yours. You put your signature on it, and move on to the next painting. The song is composed, written down, recorded, copyrighted. It's ready to perform.

Project Style A comes with built-in satisfaction. You know you've accomplished something. It makes you feel good.

Project Style B, however, can become tedious. You get all excited about planning the garden. You prepare the ground, plant the seeds, water them, wait for them to sprout. At first, it's amazing. Then the weeds start to appear. You cautiously pull the first few, afraid you may be uprooting the plants you want instead of the weeds. After a while, you may get busy and forget to water your garden. The plants may start to wilt. The weeds start to take over. You may decide it's too much work and throw all your effort to the wind. Forget it! It's too much trouble.

Maintaining weight loss can be that way. At first it's exciting. You've lost all that weight. Inches have disappeared. You're fitting into clothes you thought you'd never be able to wear. Then the weeds start to appear. A cookie here. Some ice cream there. Your favorite meals all day long instead of the good things you're supposed to be eating.

That happened to me. It can happen to you. What we have to do is decide we're not going to go back to the way we were. We have to make a conscious effort not to slide back and lose all our effort. We have to continue to maintain and not backslide.

What happens when you stop? Do you stay the same weight? No. You start to lose definition. You begin to notice the scales climbing upward. Half a pound here. A quarter pound there. Then a pound. It can be fast and scary. It can also be slow and insidious.

I regained five pounds and some inches here and there. Was it just laziness? Did I get too busy to care? (Yes. I got REALLY busy.) Am I going to stay there? NO! I've already lost one of those extra pounds, and I'm going to lose the rest. You can, too.

Will it be easy? Maybe not.
Will it be worth it? Definitely!

Need support? Allow me to suggest the Bode Transformation. People have been getting amazing results in just twelve weeks. If you have a smart phone, you can get the Bode app, with great daily inspiration to help you stay on track, alert you when it's time to eat something, and help you plan your exercise program. Am I going to try it? Yes! As soon as I get a smart phone! But you don't have to wait. You can start changing your life right now!

Until next time, have a lovely week!