Big ships take a lot of effort and a huge amount of space to turn around. It’s a bit the same when you’re fat. It all seems to be taking too much time to make a considerable difference in your weight so you lose heart and give up the attempt. Then, a little while later when the pain of that failure is a little dimmed, you start the whole process again.
So you’re not progressing full steam ahead – or full steam backwards – you’re wallowing around in very large circles.
Make no mistake, changing from being overweight to the right size is a mammoth undertaking. It’s a project all its own, with its own particular challenges. You have to set your course and commit 100 per cent to the undertaking so that you are travelling full steam ahead no matter what the weather.
Unbelievably, the next part – remaining at the right weight – is even harder. If we stay with the ship analogy, it’s like trying to sit at exactly the same co-ordinates in the middle of a stormy sea. Instead of treading water, you can end up somewhere you don’t want to be. Again.
So losing weight is a two-step process – the inital big effort (which may take a year or more) and the subsequent – and constant – activity of course correction. They both require the use of a compass. They also both require attentiveness and effort. Ships do not travel without the direction of the captain and the good work of his crew.
The mistake we make is that when we’ve dropped all the weight, we think the race is run. It’s not. Unbelievably, that’s actually the easy bit because it has an end. A goal. You are seeing result and the small successes spur you on. You’re heading in the right direction. But once you’re there, the challenge seems to be over. You’ve made it. You’re in dock.
But you’re not. You’re still at sea with all the dangers still surrounding you. And now you’re a smaller vessel that can be more easily buffeted by storms.
So once you get to your right weight, your right co-ordinates, remember that you’re not safely docked. You’re still in the middle of the ocean and you need to keep your wits about you. Use your compass constantly to stay the same weight. Make sure your attention is always on the food you eat. And practise course correction every time your weight strays even the smallest amount. Because you don’t want to be a big ship. Being sleek and lightweight and able to move quickly trhough life is a joy that’s worth making an effort to sustain.