northernmusician's Journal, 03 Apr 14

Good job, body comp is moving in the right direction 

George Michael - Faith. Glad you're seeing the fruits of trusting your body. :) 

Thanks, both of you. I wonder if it will continue. My goal is 180 at 10% at some point in the future. I'm a lifer. The diet serves the goals now. Pretty psyched.  

I have a similar goal of 185 at 10-12%, it's going to be a long process in which you cannot skip a beat. Muscle gain is so very different from fat loss, and so much more challenging! (mentally and physically) 

I don't know if I agree or not. I think losing weight, at least from a high weight, is extremely tough psychologically. It's all couched in the worry that it's just waiting to be put back on. Somehow, it's easy to feel like you'll just gain it back once you quiet dieting. It's terrifying, and regaining happens a lot. I think the key is the exit strategy. Also, I think a person really needs something that they will 'do' so that controlling food intake becomes secondary to the other goals. 

WOOO HOOO!!! WTG, @NM! You're really kickin' tail here! 

I agree NM, but the truth is there shouldn't need to be any "exit strategy" If you just lose weight via a healthy lifestyle...then you just keep it going forever and you never have a problem. When people lose weight by straving themselves and not exercising they set themselves up for failure. The biggest problem is the damage such a lifestyle does to the thyroid and digestive tract. 

I couldn't agree more, Chad, but for too many the goal is the weight loss, not the change in lifestyle or the decision to never go back. I want everyone here to be successful in their weight loss; I know you do too. I agree the exercise and healthy eating is the key to maintenance because without them, as you say, metabolic changes will make it far less likely to keep the weight off. It's disheartening to see. I've done the weight loss and regain to a higher weight myself. I've had enough of it. I want everyone to be successful. They're now saying 20% of the population will die from obesity related illnesses. That's equivalent to smoking. If a person is overweight and smokes.... 

Hey, @NM. I'm in total agreement. There are the battles, and then there's the war... It would be so much easier if everyone was driven by all the same issues, and if everyone's bodies responded in all the same way. Sadly, they just don't. Things that work great for so many, do nothing for others, or are impossible to continue for them. I think the battles need to be fought by every individual however they find they need to do fight them. But always keeping an eye on the eventual win to the war... we hope people start thinking early about their transitions, and begin making plans. So many people never make it past the battles for so many years, that when they finally get to the *end*, they're surprised by it, and really aren't mentally prepared for it. @NM, I think you're doing great work to get people to think about that stuff early.