Healthy Living

Weight Loss Setback

by Pastor Dan White
01/17/17
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I eagerly anticipated my weekly weigh-in this morning. I have cut back my portion sizes and ate healthy foods with the right balance of protein and complex carbs with generous servings of non-starchy vegetables for the past three weeks. Plus, I ate properly the two times we went out to eat last week. We walked 10 miles last week and 1.5 miles yesterday. 

I was like a child eager for Christmas Day. I just knew my abstemiousness had a weight loss present waiting to be unwrapped. After all, I have been doing a lot of reading on this. Eat less, eat properly, and exercise equals less fat roll. Right?  Right!

I stepped on the scale and my heart sunk. 239.6 lbs. it had to be wrong. No way. I stepped off and weighed again. There was the hideous number again!  239.6 lbs.

That was a gain of 1.7 pounds!  Ughh. Almost two pounds up from last week. Not good. 

I am heavily disappointed in my heaviness. I mean really disappointed. Really, really disappointed. Like getting clothes instead of toys for Christmas when I was a kid. 

So, I set about analyzing what went wrong last week. That's what we humans do when plans fail. NFL football coaches do it every Monday after a loss. What went wrong? How is it corrected? And then, correct it through the practices that follow in order to win the next game. 

But, I couldn't think of anything I did wrong. I followed my game plan. But there it was. 1.7 pounds gained. 

My assistant coach came over and gave me a pep rally. "Don't get discouraged. Don't quit," she said. "Don't give up. Don't get depressed."  

She knows me and my emotional make-up well. When things don't go my way, I have a tendency to quit. And this morning, I had the makings of a quitting day. 

We had a team meaning. My wife said, It's got to be salt." We had barbeque last night with one slice of bread and a cup of Brunswick stew." She looked on line at the barbeque place where we had eaten and found the nutrition tables. 

"That's it!  See, right here. They load their Q with salt."  And sure enough, they do. They put the whole recommended daily sodium in one serving. There was enough salt in it to turn Lake Michigan into another Great Salt Lake. And, no telling how much sodium was in the stew! 

"Here, look at my fingers. Swollen. I can hardly take my ring off. And look at yours. See if you can take your ring off."

I had to do some maneuvering, but I got it off. Like her, my fingers were swollen too. 

No more barbeque for us!  

"It has to be water weight retained by all that salt" she reasoned. She's a retired nurse and knows stuff like that. Her analysis made me feel a little better. 

"Yea, water weight! I sure hope that's it," I responded. That certainly sounded good and logical. 

We'll see what happens at next Tuesday's weigh-in after this setback. Progress will be more difficult than I imagined. I thought the pounds would be rolling off after three weeks of diet and walking. But nope! It's going to be more like pushing a boulder up a mountain rather than falling off a log. 

One thing about it, I'm more determined than ever to whip this body back to a manageable size. My nature is to both give up and quit but I also have a side that holds on like a pit bull until I accomplish my objective. I'm thankful I have my pit bull nature snarling at this right now. I'm unwavering in reaching my goal and then maintaining it. I believe I am on a good game plan and will keep it until more setbacks prove I need to change it. 

One good outcome, a very good outcome, in all this is that my glucose readings have not yo-yoed all over the place. They have remained in pretty good range from the 90's to 150. Nothing over 200. And, I had a lot of 200+ blood sugars before tackling my weight issue. So, even with a 1.7 pound gain, there is good news. I know I'll get a pat on the back from my endocrinologist after my next A1c test. I expect the number will be down. I hope so anyway.  He's been after me to exercise more and stick with my diet. 

And, there's the spiritual side to all of this too. The Scripture teaches to honor God with our bodies (I Corinthians 6:20). My obese body is not God-honoring. It's really a disgrace. One day hopefully in the next 12 months or so, it will be at least more God-honoring than it is now.   

Until then, I'll keep on walking toward the victory that I want and need. I can't quit. I won't quit. I'll keep on keeping on.