Avoid Unrealistic Expectations
 

I found this article on the Atkins website and found it very helpful.... maybe you will too!!

The Expectation Trap
Avoid the pitfalls of unrealistic weight-loss goals.

One of the beauties of following the Atkins Nutritional Approach™ is that you can individualize it to suit your goals, your temperament and your lifestyle. You also need to apply a touch of realism to the grand scheme. Don't be trapped by expectations. This is a typical vulnerability found in people who repeatedly fail at weight loss. They have a preconceived notion of how a weight-loss plan should progress and demand perfection or, at least, a steady and predictable progress that can't necessarily be achieved—even by doing Atkins.

Your experience will not be like your sibling's or your parents'—and certainly not like your spouse's. You have a body that's unlike any other body, with a unique history, and as you advance in years it will not behave exactly the way it did when it was 18. And, sad but true, that bod may never be a "perfect 10."

But you can make it the best body possible if you don't fall into the trap of demanding a perfect figure and a weight-loss schedule that exists only in your head. You can succeed only if you forgive yourself your missteps, rather than calling the game a failure and withdrawing to the sidelines. The same goes for the fact that you'll hit plateaus, lose a little ground or sometimes lose more slowly than you'd like. You will most likely succeed by doing Atkins, but each one of you will succeed differently, at a different pace.

Here are three more pitfalls that you should know about just to make sure you avoid them:

Getting on the scale four or five times a day is a form of slow torture. Even the most effective weight-loss plan can't produce a change every few hours, nor even guarantee that you'll lose weight each day. The human body doesn't work that way. By doing Atkins, you're making highly favorable changes to an immensely complicated system. Your metabolism will decide how quickly you lose. There is, unfortunately, no little Dr. Atkins inside you ordering your metabolism to take off precisely three-quarters of a pound a day. The ultimate proof the plan is working is that you see a steady loss over a significant period. And you may notice a change in the fit of your clothes before you see it on the scale. You simply must not demand mathematical exactitude.
To think that the present will be just like the past is another mind trap. The statement "But I'm not losing the way I did 10 years ago" should set off alarm bells. It isn't 10 years ago, Ace. We all wish we were 10 years younger. The normal pattern of human aging is that we find it easier to stay slim when we're young, and it gets harder as the decades pass. Unfortunately, this rule applies to you, too.
The same thing goes for exercise. Sometimes people with a fair degree of metabolic resistance find that to lose at a decent speed they have to exercise (which you shoulc do anyway). Then they say, "But back in 1994, I lost 20 pounds in two months without exercising." Get real. It's not 1994. Send all complaints to Father Time, Post Office Eternity.

Remember how individual your body is, and you should be forearmed against any other personal mind traps you encounter. This is heavy psychological stuff, and we all face it. Yet a high percentage of people do succeed doing Atkins—permanently. How?

Here are some mind traps you must learn to avoid:

using food as an emotional comfort
quitting the program altogether if you've cheated
eating less than three times a day
doing what other people want instead of what's right for you
being afraid to ask family and friends—or even a psychotherapist—for support.

Amen to that.

I couldn't have said it clearer than the author. Well done.

:)

big ol' thumbs up from me!

Part of my problem with BFL is how he sells unrealistic expecations--as if everyone could (or should) look like those photos. I suppose saying, "lift regularly and sometimes to failure, enjoy your strength gains, rest plenty, and love the body you have, which will probably never look like a fitness model's, especially if you've been seriously overweight before" would not sell a whole lot of books, tho. ;) Think if I coupled that with, "metabolic obesity never goes away" and "plateaus can be a good thing" I could be a weight-loss guru and make millions? :D

thanks for the find, teri!

I am probably not doing much good here but then this is a different perspective:

"Getting on the scale four or five times a day is a form of slow torture..."

Once I hit that 60kg mark on the scale I could not believe it. I was so happy. That scale was a HUGE incentive to me. Each time I went to the loo I would hop on it just to be sure that mark was for real. And each time I saw that number - day and night and all the times inbetween - sneak lower, it reminded me to not give up or reward myself - keep going for 54.

It just goes to show that what works for one person is pure torture for another. Sounds like weighing in a lot is a positive reinforcement for some. But, for some people it becomes an out of control fixation/obsession that actually throws them off track. The water and fluid fluctuations in their body cause their weight to go up and down and it becomes defeating. I myself weigh myself at the gym once a week and it works for me not to have one in the house. I recommend this to anyone who finds themselves obsessed or fixated on their weight instead of living this WOL. Plus it guarantees I will be at the gym that day!!

Betsy

Thanks for the wonderful post, Teri
 

I have been elected leader of my TOPS group and I printed this to use at a meeting (sans references to Atkins) TOPS allows whichever diet you prefer or are prescribed by your doctor and it seems as if I am the only one on low carb. But this article applies to anyone so it will be a great topic for a meeting.

Thanks again.

Great!! Glad to see it was useful! It sure helped me get my head on straight. :roll:

Hi there,

I see you have lost 92% in almost a year . I would welcome some advice about how to do it too . If you read my journal you will see that I am struggling . I have been at it now for almost 4 weeks and have lost 4.5 lbs .

People say that I am on track but I dont feel so especially when I compare myself to others with the same amount to loose .

Thanks

Rob

I am one of the golden oldies on this site and the following struck a chord:

"The normal pattern of human aging is that we find it easier to stay slim when we're young, and it gets harder as the decades pass ."


But there is one crucial difference. I now know why I was forever creeping upwards and why last November I had reached a lifetime high of 270 pounds. I now now what to do about it. + the when and how . Or at least the fundamentals anyhow.

So yes it is a hard slog and I do not do anything like the sports and exercise I did in my student days. Then it was go go go during the day and then drink beer beer beer in the evening as if it was going out of fashion.

I think my expectations are realistic and I am moving forward for the duration. Its a slow old business getting re-aquainted with ones metabolism. There is certainly no little Dr. Atkins inside me telling the fat cells what to do. However putting DANDR and PP on my head and walking around certainly helps my deportment.