Three Ideas about Weight Loss

This post is the first in an occasional short series on weight loss, or more specifically, habit maintenance. Having lost 55 pounds, people have started to ask me: what are you doing to make this happen? Well, let me tell ya about the three ideas about weight loss.

First of all, if you are interested in making a change, define your purpose. Is it to improve your overall health? Be there for your family and friends? Be more active in the world? Whatever that purpose is, write it down (think big picture). That idea should guide all the changes you’ll need to make. That picture at the bottom of this post is where I saw myself…going to cool places with the cool people in my life. This is the first pillar (idea) that will drive your weight loss.

Second, take stock of where you are in terms of health. Back in January 2020, I had high blood pressure and worried I’d drop dead of a heart attack at age 55, and I was headed in this direction. I also wanted to be around for my daughter’s second act, and for my third act…doing the things I love (biking, hiking, trail running) and being around to help support family and friends.  With trail running, I found that I REALLY liked gearing up and getting out, and finding this out was an important step, and helped push me toward activities (I did a race!) and habits that supported my goals. This is the second pillar (idea) that will drive your weight loss.

Third, I tell my students all time: PURPOSE DRIVES ACTION. So if you are researching a subject or trying something new without a goal mind, you’re…probably not going to get where you’d like to go. How many times have we started some vaguely defined New Year’s resolution and then find ourselves back a square one a few weeks later? If we keep our purpose in mind, and drive toward it every day in small ways, and continue onward even when we make mistakes, then we are on the path. Having a larger sense of purpose helped when things got tough and I wanted to chuck it all and eat…everything. This is the third pillar (idea) that will drive your weight loss.

So these are my three ideas about weight loss that I’ve discovered plenty in the last year in my and I hope to share a few of those ideas here on this space. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you in the next one.