I was shocked when I saw the TV show, "The Biggest Loser." These people were competing through weight loss, and it was astonishing to see people distraught over only losing 2 or 3 pounds in a week. Healthy weight loss is one pound a week. These people are losing 5 to 10. Healthy weight loss represents a change in lifestyle. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
But even worse was that these folks were crying and feeling horrible about not losing enough weight. Losing weight and being healthy should be a positive, happy thing. It shouldn't be about feeling bad.
One of my patients was upset that in 3 months, she had only lost 5 lbs. but I was happy for her. "If you lose 5 lbs every 3 months, that's 20 lbs a year. You keep it up!" Those are the folks who are winning, nickel and diming their way to better health.
Losing a pound a week is considered to be healthy, but if you weigh over 200lbs and have lots of fat to lose, losing 2~5lbs is not considered unhealthy. Anyways, I really enjoy reading your posts, please keep writing.
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