Measuring Success

Good Friday Morning.

A wise man once said that "Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."

That certainly applies to many areas of life, but definitely to a weight loss program. Sometimes you get lost in the day in, day out routine and need to step back to see where you are and where you've come from. That's what I want to do today.

On Feb. 24th when I first saw my picture from my anniversary night a few days earlier I was appalled. I weighed 199.8 and was headed in the wrong direction. At that point I made the decision that Enough was Enough.

As I was deciding how best to move forward and lose weight my subconscious mind was already starting the process. After deciding to go public and "blog my way to my goal" it took a few days to get that set-up. So on March 9th the formal process began and I weighed 194.2. I had lost over 5 lbs before the formal program began simply by doing what I've written about for 3 weeks now. So today, 18 days later, I weighed in at 187.8. That's 12 lbs in 31 days, simply by making small efforts day in and day out.

I'm not patting myself on the back - although I'm very happy with the progress - I'm just sharing that having a goal, and a plan, and measuring the progress along the way is a true key to success.

The goal was the first step and most important step. Knowing that I needed to get to 165 lbs. by August 8th has truly kept me focused. What I mean by that is whether eating or exercising, I'm asking myself if what I'm doing is getting me closer to my goal or not? That's a powerful question to ask yourself when you have a small or large decision to make - will the answer get you closer to your goal? If the answer is yes, then that's probably the direction to head.

The plan is next and if you don't have it just fill out the form in the upper right. I've just followed the plan day in and day out.

Measuring the progress is the key to staying on track. I talked about why weighing in everyday was important because you couldn't get too far off track that way. Tracking what you eat (sounds like a pain, but takes about 5 minutes a day) each day is very important because you can compare what you're doing with the results you're getting. If you're honest about what goes in your mouth (and why wouldn't you be) then it's easy to see where the problem is if you reach a plateau.

I will share with you on Monday a great tracking system (I couldn't get all the information I needed for today) that I've been using for several days that is very easy and comprehensive with great one click reports to show you exactly where you are.

One thing I've learned about trying to reach any worthwhile goal - you can't be casual with the day in, day out activities or you'll never reach your goal.

My wife and I are headed off to Niagara Falls for a brief getaway and a little blackjack. Hope you have a great weekend, and stay true to the plan.

Comments always welcome below.

Bill Ehmann
330-858-1906