Coaching Corner: Persistence

 

The obvious goal that most people have when they start a weight management program is to not only lose weight but keep it off.  Unfortunately, the reality is that they gain some, if not all of their weight back.  When this pattern repeats itself over time it is referred to as yo-yo dieting, or weight cycling.  There is a common misconception that this pattern can lower, if not “destroy” your metabolism; making future weight loss difficult if not impossible.  If you believe that you have destroyed your metabolism as a result of previous dieting behavior, you might assume that you can’t lose weight, so why try?  The good news is that according to the National Institutes of Health’s, Weight Control Information Network (WIN), studies show weight cycling does not affect your metabolic rate.  Results for the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), a data base of 10,000 successful maintainers support those findings. The participants of NWCR have lost on average 50 – 70 lbs. and maintained that weight loss for 7-10 years.  Most of the participants had lost and regained weight many times prior to successfully maintaining their weight.  While no one is suggesting it is a good idea to lose and regain weight repeatedly, studies have shown that it does not predict your chance of success in the future.  One common characteristic of the members in NWCR is that they didn’t give up working on managing their weight.  They kept at it, learned from their experience and finally found a plan that worked for them.  In other words, they were persistent.   For those of you who are successful in managing your weight, congratulations, keep up the great work!  For those who have found that goal elusive, do not give up.  Weight management can be compared to many aspects of life; it’s not the one that gets it right the first time, it’s the one who does not give up until they got it right.

As you may know, I am a big fan of quotes.  Sometimes the right quote can help keep or regain focus. Here some great quotes about persistence.

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”     Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.”  William Feather

“Ambition is the path to success.  Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”  Bill Bradley

“It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop.”    Confucius

“Giving up is the only sure way to fail.”   Gena Showalter

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”   Thomas Alva Edison

“Fall seven times, get up eight.”   Japanese Proverb