Increments

"I remember my father saying one word to me as I would walk out to school every day: 'increments.' Every test, every quiz, every conversation with the teacher, it all added up to the final grade, which would affect where you went off to college and the rest of your life. All those little bits and pieces added up to something larger." ---Wentworth Miller

I was reminded this past week from a dear friend (Helen) that weight loss and continued weight loss is about increments. The dictionary defines increments in mostly the “added” type meaning.

in•cre•ment
[in-kruh-muh nt, ing-]–noun
1. something added or gained; addition; increase.
2. profit; gain.
3. the act or process of increasing; growth.
4. an amount by which something increases or grows: a weekly increment of $25 in salary.
5. one of a series of regular additions: You may make deposits in increments of $500.
Mathematics.
a. the difference between two values of a variable; a change, positive, negative, or zero, in an independent variable.
b. the increase of a function due to an increase in the independent variable.


However, when we add pound of weight lost after pound of weight lost, we add increments of weight loss. My friend Helen emailed me saying she had lost 10% of her body weight. Do you know how incredible that is? If she did this, ten times she would no longer be visible! I joke, but seriously; how amazing is losing 10% of your total body weight. If you break the 10% increments down, she might be (out of this have no idea worldly guess) 20% or much higher towards her weight loss goals. Now, that little 10% is huge and Helen should be extremely proud.

I know that the stress in my life has weighed me down lately, in many ways, not just in terms of attitude and mental clarity. Since the holidays, I have not exercised and have had many stressful events. I have not been as watchful with the food as I normally am. I have put a few pounds on and because of the salty foods; my hands are holding water or swelling. Helen was just the ticket I needed to get moving again.

In the end, Helen discovered the secret to weight loss. Do it in small increments and have more good days than bad days. Exercise as much as possible, keep yourself busy, and out of the kitchen and fast food joints. Well done Helen and I bet it feels great and you did it… no one else… just you and your own determination. Helen, congratulations on a job very well done on something so few accomplish in life.

"Break any problem into, or make any changes in, small increments." ---Anne Grant

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." ---Vince Lombardi