I gained weight this week!  What do I do?

I’m glad you asked.

The first thing to do is stay calm.  Stay intentional.  Stay focused on your goals.

So many times we start a weight-loss or health-improvement plan and then give up at the first sign of failure.  We work hard.  We wear out two pairs of shoes.  We stopped indulging in banana splits.  What’s it going to take to lose some weight!?

Stay calm.  Stay intentional. Stay focused on your goals.

Remember, you cannot allow the scale to dictate your behavior.  We have proven to ourselves that we can lose weight.  We know the process of “burning more calories than we consume” works.  Sometimes the body adjusts.  It adapts.  It holds onto water.  It builds muscle.  It simply adds some unexpected weight to the scale.

Second, there is a book you need to read.  It is a life-changing book.  It speaks truth about your life’s journey.  It is a fountain of wisdom.  It is a must read.  Read this!  The book is called, “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

You heard me right, “The Tortoise and the Hare.”  Read it.  Process it.  We must be slow and steady in our weight loss.  We must be persistent.  We must be methodical. We must be consistent.  That is how we win the race.

I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NIV)

We are in this for the long haul, not the short ride.  This is not an overnight, short-sale of stock.  This is a well-thought-out, measured, planned and executed process.

And you will reach your goals.

Finally, we need to adjust.  Change it up.  If you were relying on a low-carb diet to get you through, switch for one week to vegan and carb it up.  If you were used to eating salads for lunch every day, switch to chicken and mozzarella.  If you were fasting every day until noon, start eating a piece of toast with a thin layer of peanut butter for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. Make your body second guess what you are doing.

Never give up.  Never stop believing.