The Surprising Power of Patience

I, like most people, struggle with my weight. I used to be a “skinny kid” that my mom tried to fatten up with daily milkshakes after school. (Those were the good old days.) But, sometime after turning thirty, my metabolism changed. Since then, on and off over the years, I have fought the battle of the bulge. I have never been obese, but rather unable to lose the 5 to 15 pounds my doctor recommended.

I watched in awe, the ads on TV and marveled at the testimonies of all the smug dieters who has lost 50 to 100 pounds. I have been unable to lose even 5. Lbs. Over time I joined and quit, and rejoined at least a half a dozen weight loss programs (Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers currently called WW, Keto, South Beach Diet, Mediterranean Diet, Quick Weight loss and Jenny Craig) and incorporated various forms of exercise routines into my life (stepping, high and low impact aerobics, Pilates, Zumba etc.) All my efforts ended about the same… a few pounds down and then after the first regular meal I ate, I gained all or most of the weight loss back.

I am forever grateful to my friend Rose, who turned me onto a book entitled “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. I found the answer or at least one answer to my weight problem and possibly a deeper meaning. I found the example so enlightening that I am quoting it exactly here for you and I highly recommend the book.

“What progress is really like:

Imagine that you have an ice cube sitting on the table in front of you. The room is cold, and you can see your breath. It is currently twenty-five degrees. Ever so slowly, the room begins to heat up.

Twenty-six degrees

Twenty-seven

Twenty-eight

The ice cube is still sitting on the table in front of you.

Twenty-nine degrees

Thirty

Thirty-one

Still nothing has happened.

Then, thirty-two degrees. The ice begins to melt. A one-degree shift, seemingly no different from the temperature increases before it, has unlocked a huge change.

Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which build up the potential required to unleash a major change. The pattern shows up everywhere. Cancer spends 80% of its life undetectable, then takes over the body in months. Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root system underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks…”

Thus, I returned to WW and decided to be very patient and remembered the ice cube analogy. When I lost only ounces a week instead of pounds, I did not give up this time.  Now after almost three months on the program I am down 7.6 pounds! I can’t promise I’ll keep it off, but I will try and at least I know it can be done. Remember the ice cube.”

Until my next inspiration…ciao.

Ice Cube Photo by Tomáš Lištiak on Unsplash