Instant Benefits

Back when I was in university, one of my college professors talked about a conversation that he had with a friend about never having energy to do the things he wanted to do. The professor said he advised his friend to ignore his fatigue and exercise, do his housework, or go out. He told him that doing these things would bring about more energy. Rather than focus on "rest" when he was tired, he encouraged his acquaintance to focus on activity.

A lot of women talk about how losing weight gives them energy, but a handful say that they don't experience such a change. I sometimes wonder if the energy that people gain from weight loss is as much, possibly more, about increased activity across the board rather than having a lighter body. Yes, it is less energy-consuming to move around a smaller body, but there are thin people who are tired and lethargic, too, and fat people who are bursting with energy. The primary change that people make when they want to lose weight is that they move around more.

I'm not only talking about moving around more by exercising; there is also the fact that they stop hiding in their homes and go out and do things they used to avoid doing because of bodily shame. Part of losing weight often involves swallowing your embarrassment and putting yourself out there. Interestingly, having to do this in turn builds confidence in yourself. You either go out and weather the abuse and learn to face it with your head up, or you give up and go back into hiding. Learning to deal with any sort of adversity in life will breed confidence.

I've been wondering as of late if weight loss is incidental to things like increased energy and improved confidence rather than a product of it. Perhaps it's as much about what the processes give you as the loss of pounds. "Looking better" is highly subjective, and any sense of confidence that people get from weight loss is like a balloon that is ready to be popped by the first person who looks them over and callously says, "you don't look like you've lost much weight."

I can't tell you how many women in weight loss forums talk about feeling great about themselves only to have someone say something that completely leaves them crestfallen. The confidence from "looking better" is a fragile illusion which places power outside of yourself. That which you derive from your actions is real and comes from the power inside of you.

This is good food for thought because it means some of the biggest non-aesthetic benefits of weight loss can be had by people regardless of how much (if any) they lose. Of course, if they don't lose, they get frustrated and give up and go back to old ways and believe they lose energy and confidence because they remain fat. However, if you focus on the actions (moving more, getting out and learning to cope with insults) rather than the results (losing weight), and just do what is best, perhaps there is satisfaction and improvement in quality of life to be had on those points alone. Rather than be tortured by the number on the scale, seek the "instant" benefits which are yours for the taking and be patient with the delivery of the long-term results.

Cellular Memory

When I first started counting calories, I had a horrible time because my body would nag and gnaw at me for more food. At that time, I wondered whether or not my body was permanently conditioned to desire more energy and if the struggle I was having with reducing calories was going to last a lifetime. In other words, I wondered if I'd always have to fight my body so hard or if my organs would adjust eventually and I'd slowly transmute my body into one which didn't rebel so hard against reduced food consumption. Frankly, I was pessimistic at the time.

Here's the thing; most people believe that "memory" is something that you only have in your brain. The truth is that every cell in your body has a memory. It isn't the memory of sights, sounds, smells, or feelings. It's the memory of how fluid, energy, damage, healing, etc. have occurred during the life of the cell. The cell is "used to" what it has had and it will fight to maintain normality. Just as a person may have difficulty adjusting to an income which is 1/3 what they were accustomed to as a reduction in lifestyle is harder than an increase, the cells in your body are going to cry foul when you chop out their accustomed feeding of energy.

Because our cells have their own memory, and they want more than anything not to change because change results in a disruption of your body's homeostasis, losing weight is hard. It's not only psychology or a lack of the much touted "willpower" that stops people from losing weight, it's each and every cell's desire to keep things as they were. During the initial phases of a food reduction plan, it is extremely hard to fight the impulses your body is sending and your brain is translating into giving you strong urges to eat. You're being compelled by potent biological forces.

The nice thing about cellular memory is that it will eventually "forget" its old state of normalcy and adapt to a new one. After you clamber over the initial mountain of difficulty of eating less, it gets easier. I've found that, despite my fear that my body was built to overeat, it does seem to have adapted and the road, while never exactly easy, has gotten far less rough. If you can do it for a month (without retraining your body to a higher intake of energy by cheating or slipping), you can do it for a year. It's that first month that's the hardest part.