Taking It By The Tens (by Strategy!)
“There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.” -Desmond Tutu
“Elephant must be extremely tough. I assume you’d probably smoke, braise, or slow-cook it.” -John J. O’Sullivan
At first, I didn’t care about weight loss. Sure, the whole “my ass not fitting in a roller coaster seat” thing was present in mind. I viewed my body like the suit Pinky and The Brain used to get around: More of a machine than part of me.
I was experiencing extreme bouts of anxiety before logging into work. This was early 2021. We just went through the COVID Panic of 2020. The office was still closed. I was still working from home. And although I wasn’t in an active depression, I was still dealing with a low-level of continual self-doubt.
My job at the time had a weekly wellness email. I vaguely remember what the email said, but it mentioned going for a walk before logging in for the day.
I figured it couldn’t hurt. I logged into work around 9 a.m., so waking up a little earlier than my morning shower wouldn’t be too difficult.
The rest is history.
Weigh Thyself
I weighed myself for “fun” at the end of 2020. I was up to 285. And this was after I thought I lost some weight.
Ow.
The next time I weighed myself was sometime around April 2021. I believe I was 270. Improvement?
I started regular weigh-ins June of 2021. This was after about two months of semi-regularly walking before work and going to the gym a few times a week. I was around 265.
Something clicked. I think it’s at this point where everything clicked. I started developing a strategy for weight loss.
The strategy: Focus on 10-pound increments.
This does a few things:
Identifies an immediate target for goals
Allows for achievable results by breaking things down
Stops the feeling of being overwhelmed
It was important to remain focused without being psyched out. And when I stopped worrying about the macro goal of not being like…this anymore, I could just get to business.
I had to weigh in daily. It’s impossible to know where you stand if you don’t know where you are.
I wanted to eliminate the possible variables which would corrupt my data. When weighing myself, these are my parameters:
No clothes
Done after weight training and cardio
Same scale every time (an old-school physician scale which can be found in most gyms)
At least one “BM” and with an empty bladder
Between 7-9 a.m.
If any of those were off, I didn’t bother. The human body fluctuates plus/minus five pounds a day. I wanted to keep variability to a minimum.
Each 10 had its own features
There were some 10s which simply disappeared. Others…took some time.
The standard pattern is that the first stage of weight loss involves “rapid” decreases in weight. I can attest to the fact that this is true. 280 to 255 didn’t require severe effort.
Things get more difficult the further you go.
As I took it by the Tens, I noticed patterns of change. Some pounds fell right off. Others took for-ev-er.
The 230s were a pain; I believe it took about a month and a half to be consistently below 230. The 220s, on the other hand, melted off after about three weeks. Every other Ten followed a similar pattern.
There are many reasons for this.
If you’re keeping a consistent pattern of exercise and healthy eating, your body may be making muscle—which weighs heavier than fat.
Water retention
A week at an all-inclusive resort
And more!
Many different factors.
The key is not to get freaked out. Instead, treat it like a game.
After every weigh in, I’d evaluate and course-correct. If I had a screw-up week and it was evident, I’d go hard in the paint the week after and observe results. When I noticed success, I felt validated.
Gamify all the things!
My thesis here is that pleasure is the only way to achieve permanent results. You don’t do things you don’t want to do.
Weighing yourself when you’re obese suhhhhhhucks.
I made a deal with myself: I would give myself something for every 10 I dropped. I gave myself a trip to a Korean spa when I dropped below 250. I bought myself something fun when I went below 240. I was going to go to the nude beach when I got below 230, but that happened mid-October and was more punishment than reward.
Those meta-rewards were important as well as all the micro-rewards of physical pleasure, psychological well-being, and visible achievement.
I don’t need to do this anymore. I am at my goal range of 185-195. I don’t care about my weight any longer; the first phase of my recovery has been achieved. But that was SO very important at the onset.
+++
Maybe you have only a few pounds to lose. Perhaps you had an “elephant meal” like I did. But the key takeaway here is to never focus on the final goal—find those steps in-between. Have a laser focus on those. And then, mouthful-by-mouthful, watch Dumbo disappear before your eyes.