Runner Dad

I've been thinking of the role of faith in the challenge of weight loss maintenance. One definition of faith that I have found useful is that it is a belief that helps you to do what you know is right, when there is no visible evidence that it is doing any good. This can apply to great and important matters, but it is also helpful for the relatively trivial matter of weight maintenance.

Here's an example. I may be watching the scale and seeing no progress. But I have been pretty good in my eating and exercise. It looks like all my effort is not doing any good. But I have faith, based on past experience, that the dial will eventually move in the right direction.

It can also be applied to behavior. It is easy to get discouraged if I slip into a day or a week of overindulgence. I can worry that it's no use trying, that I will slip back into all of my old ways eventually. But I must believe that every good day gets me closer to the changed life I want to live.

In case you're wondering about all these recent posts on weight loss/maintenance, this is becauase this has been a non-running week, so I'm concentrating on my diet. I'm taking this week off to play it safe, since next week is the start of official training.