Lesson 10: Resetting Your Threshold

For everyone who has ever attempted to lose weight there is a threshold they reach which prompts them to think about losing that weight. That threshold can be a number on the scale, the size label in their jeans, or simply not fitting into their clothes the way they like. Whatever the telltale sign is, for those of us who have tried to lose weight we have that threshold.

What happens most times is that we lose the weight and keep it off for a little bit, but then somehow we end up right back where we started, or perhaps even heavier! Why? Well, because we didn’t reset our threshold. Our internal trigger to straighten up and fly right is still set way up at the top of the scale!

We know that we can’t constantly be living on salad and fruit, so we indulge ourselves every now and again. But then, we forget that we used to be fat and how we got that way, and we have a few more snacks. When we gain weight, we rationalize by telling ourselves that we’re still smaller than we once were, so it’s no big deal and we can always go back to rabbit food and lose the weight again. No big deal. Then one day we wake up and we’re back in our fat pants again or perhaps even shopping for new fat pants.

Time to reset your threshold! You may remember from my first blog that my old threshold was 200 pounds. I have now lost 30 pounds and am trying to maintain my weight through the holidays before setting another weight loss goal. In order to maintain my current weight loss and not slip back into my size 14 jeans I have reset my threshold to 174 pounds. If I step on the scale and I am at or near 174 then it’s time to take the dogs on a walk, or skip desert for the next two nights. Time to do something… anything to make sure I don’t undo all my hard work.

What’s your new threshold?