One day last week my eleven year old daughter says, “Dad, do
you know how to eat an elephant?” I
said, “No.” With a big grin on her face
she says, “One bite at a time.” We chuckled. Later that day I began thinking that the
punch line to that joke really is the secret to success in many things
including weight loss.
When it comes to weight loss and fitness, it is easy to feel
overwhelmed. People often think that in
order to be successful you need to change almost everything in your life. Not true.
Whether you are looking to start your weight loss journey or you are
trying seeking to rediscover your commitment, try to make changes one simple
step at a time.
A friend of mine recently lost a noticeable amount of weight
over the last few months. Recently I asked
him about it. He said, “I am power walking
– that’s it.” After congratulating him
he went on to tell me how surprisingly easy it has been. He committed to one lifestyle change. The results have been impressive.
Whether you are looking to start your weight loss journey or
you trying to find a way to continue what you already started, the same advice
applies – start by committing to a single change. Over the last couple weeks I have finally started
to run regularly again. But while I have
managed to run regularly, I have struggled to increase my distance each week as
I want to do.
I usually run on a nice bike path near my home; it is over
50 miles long (one way). Since I
returned to running, I have initially kept my daily mileage at three
miles. But after a couple of weeks, it
was time to increase my miles a bit.
There is a road that crosses the bike path at the 1.5 mile mark. Lately, I have turned around when I reach
that road. But last week, I really needed
to stretch my runs out for another mile or so – I needed to cross that road,
but try as I might I kept turning around.
But one day this week, during my run, I remembered my
daughter’s joke about the elephant. I
realized, success in this case doesn’t take that much effort, just cross that
road for a quarter mile and turn around.
And that is exactly what I did. I
finally crossed that road and expanded my runs one bite at a time.
Wherever you are on your journey, remember to overcome your
obstacle little by little. Cross whatever
roads you need to cross one bite at time.