Take The Train

I was listening to a webcast of Healthy Living Radio the other day -- that's Dr. Kenneth Cooper's show. He's the guy who's the Father of Aerobics, and one of my heroes.

This particular show was discussing the benefits of exercise (as many of the HLR shows do). I was listening with one ear, as I was doing deskwork at the time. But one comment jumped out at me . . . and I just had to write it down.

"Fitness is a journey, not a destination."

This is so true. Once you get up off the couch and start exercising, if you keep at it, you get back into shape. You get fit. But if you stop exercising, you lose fitness.

To stay fit, you have to keep exercising.

What struck me about this statement -- why I wrote it down -- was how well it applies to weight loss.

So many people think that weight loss is a destination -- that once they get to goal, they're going to magically stay there, as if they were cured of their weight-gaining propensities. They are so surprised when the weight comes right back on. They did the diet, they got to goal, the weight is supposed to stay off!

The real deal is this: "goal" is not a destination -- a place to kick back, cut loose, and stop depriving yourself.*

"Goal" is nothing more than the first overnight stop on a very long train ride called "weight maintenance." That's a ride that lasts the rest of your life. The day that you are finally allowed to stop maintaining your weight is the day you take your dirt nap.

Folks, there's no destination on the Maintenance Train. Like Old Man River, it just keeps rollin' along. Sure, there are overnight stops, some side excursions, a party stop here and there (as well as the occasional, hopefully minor derailment) -- but no destination. It's a journey without end.

The only way to keep the weight off is to keep doing the same things you did to lose the weight. Only with more food, so's you won't keep losing. Everything else stays the same. In one form or another, you have to manage food portions, monitor your weight, and somehow account for, or keep track (loosely or in infinite detail) of how much you are eating every day.

That's maintenance, in a nutshell. It's not glamorous, but it sure works, and works well, as long as you keep working it. Every single day, the rest of your life.

So far, I'm doing pretty well on my train ride. I've enjoyed some scenic tours, stopped for repairs a time or two, but otherwise have been chugging right along. This is my life now. I don't expect it to change, though it may evolve. I'll reupholster the seats, maybe update the dining car. I can't do the same thing all the time -- I do it until I get tired of it, then I find a new way to do it.

But I'm on this train for life.

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*You should never deprive yourself to lose weight . . . but that's another essay, another time.

Comments

[Kim]

Thanks for another great essay....you nailed it again!

[kate]

Excellent essay! It's one of those things that I know but easliy forget. So thanks for the reminder, congratulations on your success with the on-going maintainance. I'm not there yet, but once I get there I hope I can remember not to imagine I'm DONE.

thanks!

[Ellen]

Because of you, I have come to the realization of what maintenance is really all about, and I feel better prepared this time around. Thank you so much for your insightful essay. You have made me see things much more clearly. All you have said is so true to the point.

[Monica]

This essay was so inspiring! I printed it out and will keep it on my fridge. So many times we work hard and then think the journey is over, but it never is. Thanks for the insight.