I Need To Lose Weight By _______

The wedding.  My kid's graduation.  The summer.  Our vacation.  The Christmas party at work.  My next doctor's appointment.  My class reunion.  The next reunion with my old friends.  And on and on the list goes.  I know that most of you reading this, like me, have voiced at least a couple of these if not all of them over the years.  If I ever publish my list of top ten tips for losing weight... you actually have to lose weight before anyone will believe your list, at least in my experience... one of my top five things will be to never lose weight for an event.  Losing weight, and more impoortantly changing your lifestyle, should be a decision you make for a plethora of reasons.  The list is long, but it includes living longer, enjoying activities with family and friends, having more energy at work, and feeling confident to name a few.  But, nowhere on that list will you find something as trivial as a wedding, a bathing suit or a party. 

These are all great things to have waiting for you when you ultimately reach your goal.  They should even be written down on your own personal list of desired outcomes.  But, they are horrible goals.  The problem with these goals is that they have an end date.  If you don't reach your goal by that end date, you have failed.  This failure means that you will likely end up quitting.  That results in you losing any progress you made to date.  The great thing about me not wanting to lose weight by the graduation parties I will be attending in a week is that I will not be discouraged if I lose two pounds or ten pounds in the next week or so. (My wife just called out "bullshit" when she heard that statement... lol)  I am not worried about how I look next weekend because I know I am heading in the right direction and making important changes to my life.  An event puts a finite timeframe on your journey and does not allow you to take whatever amount of time your specific journey might take.  The event also signals the end of the journey.  As if looking good at the wedding is a success and now your work is done.  Again, this is an almost guaranteed setup for going back to bad habits as soon as the event is over, whether you were successful or not.  Sure, I have set some monthly goals and a year end goal for myself.  But, these are just reminders.  They serve as motivators.  If I miss one, like I did in April, I will simply adjust my goals up slightly.  And, my end of the year goal isn't so I can attend a New Year's party and get compliments about the new me.  It's just a nice date that happened to work out perfectly with the weight I was hoping to lose each month. 

The other thing an event does is place too much emphasis on other people's opinions.  I truly believe that losing weight has to be something you do for yourself.  Sure, you can add a group of important people to that list, like your family and friends.  And, yes, it is wonderful to hear all of your acquaintances comment on the new you.  But again, this shouldn't be your reason for making a change.  In the end, these comments are an incredible byproduct of these changes, but not important enough to motivate you.

Of course, what do I know?  I still weight 265 pounds!  Here's to losing weight only to become a better you and not so you look good at the wedding...