Weight is like the weather

ChickenKillerPuppy

As the weather trends towards spring here on the East coast, I thought I'd share something that I read on one of these boards a little over a year ago that put so much of weight loss in perspective.

Losing weight is like the weather. In March - June, the weather is trending warmer. That doesn't mean the temperature is literally going to be higher than the day before. Some days are going to be really warm (it was 72 in Philadelphia here yesterday!), and then there will be stretches of colder weather (this weekend is going to be in the low 50s, next week in the high 50s low 60s), but over the next few months, the weather will trend warmer and will move upwards.

Just like weight loss. It's not a straight arrow down. There will be some outlier days out there, but what is important is that it moves in the right direction over time, despite fluctuations each day.

SuzySunshine99

Oooo...an analogy thread...I love analogies!

Here's one:

Maintaining your weight loss is like maintaining a car.
You work hard to buy a shiny new car, everything is beautiful and works perfectly...you love it!
But, if you don't do regular maintenance, it's going to fall into disrepair soon.
You have to change the oil, rotate the tires, check the hoses, belts, and brakes....FOREVER.
It becomes a normal habit, and you'll keep your car humming along.

SuzySunshine99

Another....

Counting calories is like managing a bank account.
You have a set number of dollars in your bank account every week.
You can choose to spend your dollars on a bunch of small things, or a few big things. It doesn't matter.
If you splurge on a REALLY big thing and go into debt, it's okay every once in a while, but if you do it too often, it will ruin you financially.
You have to decide what is worth spending your money on.

ChickenKillerPuppy

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

Another....

Counting calories is like managing a bank account.
You have a set number of dollars in your bank account every week.
You can choose to spend your dollars on a bunch of small things, or a few big things. It doesn't matter.
If you splurge on a REALLY big thing and go into debt, it's okay every once in a while, but if you do it too often, it will ruin you financially.
You have to decide what is worth spending your money on.

I like the bank account analogy too, and think it is spot on.

hipari

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

Another....

Counting calories is like managing a bank account.
You have a set number of dollars in your bank account every week.
You can choose to spend your dollars on a bunch of small things, or a few big things. It doesn't matter.
If you splurge on a REALLY big thing and go into debt, it's okay every once in a while, but if you do it too often, it will ruin you financially.
You have to decide what is worth spending your money on.

I heard another money-related one: overweight/obesity is a calorie debt that you need to pay back. In a purely statistical sense, it’s a quantifiable amount (X pounds extra fat * Y calories per pound) that you need to ”pay back” as deficit, and you won’t be able to pay it back all at once because you need those calories for basic necessities and living costs too, and just like with money, life is miserable if you have way too little for your everyday life.

ChickenKillerPuppy

hipari wrote: »

I heard another money-related one: overweight/obesity is a calorie debt that you need to pay back. In a purely statistical sense, it’s a quantifiable amount (X pounds extra fat * Y calories per pound) that you need to ”pay back” as deficit, and you won’t be able to pay it back all at once because you need those calories for basic necessities and living costs too, and just like with money, life is miserable if you have way too little for your everyday life.

I like that one too - I had not heard that before but it totally makes sense!

AnnPT77

One of my favorite analogies (that I stole from another MFPer) is about slip-ups.

Sometimes we eat something more calorific than we'd planned, and think "well, I've blown it for today, might as well just eat whatever, and start over tomorrow".

This is like going out to drive to work in the morning, discovering that you have a flat tire, then driving nails in the other 3 tires and going back to bed.

Unknown

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paperpudding

ChickenKillerPuppy wrote: »

As the weather trends towards spring here on the East coast, I thought I'd share something that I read on one of these boards a little over a year ago that put so much of weight loss in perspective.

Losing weight is like the weather. In March - June, the weather is trending warmer. That doesn't mean the temperature is literally going to be higher than the day before. Some days are going to be really warm (it was 72 in Philadelphia here yesterday!), and then there will be stretches of colder weather (this weekend is going to be in the low 50s, next week in the high 50s low 60s), but over the next few months, the weather will trend warmer and will move upwards.

Just like weight loss. It's not a straight arrow down. There will be some outlier days out there, but what is important is that it moves in the right direction over time, despite fluctuations each day.

well that wasnt me - not if it is an exact copy and paste anyway, since in southern hemisphere March to June does not trend higher.

But I did start a thread some time ago saying exactly this.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10787141/weight-loss-is-like-the-weather/p1

Be warned - it derails into silliness pretty rapidly