I’ve joined a lot of Weight Watchers groups on Facebook.  Multiple times a day someone will post something along these lines: 

I have tracked every single bite this week, I’ve guzzled so much water I’m drowning, and I’ve walked 10K steps every day, and at my weigh-in, I ONLY lost 15  pounds! I’m so upset and frustrated, I want to quit.

That’s really not much of an exaggeration. I just read one post where a woman said she’d lost 30 pounds in two months. Really?

I read posts like that and think, “Yeah, I’ve been at this for eight weeks, and I’ve “only” lost a little over 8 lbs.”

Theodore Roosevelt had it right: if we start comparing our lives with others, we will often lose our joy because there will always be those who have more, do more, spend more, eat more, lose more, paint more, travel more, etc.

The word “only” should be banned. It a word that diminishes and trivializes, and we don’t want to diminish and trivialize things that are important to us. It’s denotes a false and unbecoming humility that we use so no one will think we are bragging.

Losses each week of 1/2 lb, or 1/10 lb, or 1/100 lb add up. If I stay the course, it will eventually equal a big weight loss. And what does it matter if it takes 3 months, 6 months, one year, two years, or more to reach my “ideal” weight? The time will pass anyway; wouldn’t it be better during the passing of that time for me to be doing what is best for my body? Wouldn’t it be better that I spend the time developing habits that will serve me well into the rest of my 70s, into my 80s and 90s?

So I pledge to congratulate others on their achievements, but to remain happy that despite what the scale number is, I am now in my 9th week of taking better care of myself. My whole self – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.