Breaking the Yo-Yo

I was desperate. I had to find a way to take the weight off and keep it off. Everything I tried failed, for me.

The weightlifting diet failed.

The Atkins diet failed.

Sucking weight for sports failed.

Prescription diets failed.

The Vegan diet failed.

The Blue Zones diet failed.

The Mediterranean diet failed.

The Engine Two diet failed.

Every time I tried to diet, I would find some success, followed by gaining all the weight back and then some.

Most people think of a yo-yo as a toy on a string. I think of a serrated weed cutter affectionately called a yo-yo by my dad. It was a tool for cutting tall grass and weeds by swinging it back and forth.

I find the weed cutter analogy to be more fitting because it had a double-edged blade. You might cut your fat on the first stroke. But the return stroke could kill you.

Here’s the rub; the problem was not the diets. It was never the diets. The problem was my commitment.

The commitment:

I committed to log my meals for two full years – 730 days, measuring all intake of food and water.

This commitment does not come lightly but it is necessary. If you are morbidly obese like I am, then it might very well take you the full 730 days to get to your goal weight. Hopefully you can reach your goal weight before then and spend some time on maintenance.

Why two years?

I chose two years because of a study I read about where people logged all their food for two years and reduced their calories by 25%. Two years seemed like a long commitment for a survey or study. The most I ever made it was 30 days.

It took Solomon 20 years to build his palace and the Temple of the Lord. I can work on my Temple for two. It took decades of neglect to get it in this shape.

The reason I committed to writing this blog was to reinforce my commitment to keep logging my food for two years (that and the cajoling of a dear friend named Cindy).

Writing this blog is like calling my shot; it is pointing my bat to center field.

Remember the first conversation is with God.

See – Conversations

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.  – 2 Timothy 1:12 NIV

My biggest battle in this commitment is that I think I can do this on my own.  But I cannot.  I must depend on someone who can handle the loads I cannot bear, calm the waters I cannot tread, and break through the obstacles I cannot see.