12 weeks, who would have thought it?

This was posted to my Facebook page tonight:

EARN IT

It takes four weeks for you to notice your body changing

8 weeks for your friends to notice

and 12 weeks for the rest of the world to notice

Give it 12 weeks

DON'T QUIT

true, isn't it.

[Hidden]

Well, personally, with the new food regime and the increased exercising, I noticed my body change quite a lot faster.

I actually notice that I'm carrying myself a whole lot better than before as I walk.

But, it does help to remind us that all these things are not precise to ten places of decimals.

For example, BMI is inidicative of body fat, but the mass could be muscle - but then looking in the mirror (and being honest) is indicative of body fat too! Weighing yourself is indicative of your body weight, it goes up and down during the day as food goes in, waste goes out and a myriad of chemical reactions are going on. That's why it's best to weigh yourself in the morning, after your first wee and before food and exercise. It's probably the most reliable point to plot a trend.

And it's all how it works for you. And the spirit of the comment is to be patient and persevere.

Results in this game are about sticking with it. You didn't gain the weight courtesy of a 'quick fix' and you won't lose it that way either.

Also remember that if you're not actually losing weight, and not gaining it, then that has already bucked the trend, because, for a whole lot of reasons, overweight people often tend to get weightier - unless they takes some steps to stop the process.

[Hidden]

Interesting and thought provoking post. I had a very interesting conversation with one of my colleagues who, years ago worked for a clinic in England specialising in eating disorders, not only bulimia and anorexia but also over-eating and she says there is a noticeable trend called the cycle of seven and they way they observed it would be, for example, someone would be in a bulimic cycle for seven days (or weeks or months)and then there would be an improvement or acceleration of the problem.

This cycle of seven is also evident in plateauing in weightloss and so on. I have personally not found anything on the internet that underpins this premise but discussions with my Weightwatchers leader at the time revealed that it is something they know about and use for media promotions, talks etc.,are losely based on that too.

However as you say, be patient and persevere.

Mietjie

[TheEditor]

Research also says if you can stick with new habits for 12 weeks, you are likely to stick with them for the long term.

[Hidden]

Hi mietjie,

Most working people, school students - and quite a lot of others too are, in our society, are in some sort of 'cycle of seven'. The pressures of the working week, usually get relaxed at the weekend, or perhaps the other way around for some people. But it still all works on a seven day basis - for most people.

And cycles of stress could be very relevant to body weight as there is a relationship between the levels of cortisol or hydrocortisone (which goes up when under stress as part of our reaction to it) and blood sugar levels.

[Hidden]

Stress, yes that is a biggie - and the effect on our bodies shows in so many different ways. I was chatting this morning with one of my colleagues who have recently suffered a bereavement and she said she has decided that she will resume running this evening as this will help dissolve the stresses she is under at the moment; I totally agree that physical activity helps a lot with coping with stress.

[Hidden]

One further point - sorry if this is boring! - is that as you re-train you notion of eating to not be full of sugars and the wrong kinds of fat and not be oversize portion wise, you'll probably find this will help you manage your levels of ghrelin, the so-called hunger hormone.

The fact is, like many other bits of our human metabolism, what we think about the food we're eating can alter the hormones we produce.

So, there is some evidence that suggests that if a moderately calorific milk shake is given to group one and they are told it's a high calorie, creamy 'treat', they'll believe it and produce low amounts of ghrelin causing them to feel less hungry. The same shake is given to group two where they are told it's a low-calorie diet drink and they produce more ghrelin and feel hungrier quicker.

Which might accout for how some people just cannot succeed with losing weight using things labelled as "slimmer's" or "diet" whatever. They just don't believe what they're eating will be adequate to satisfy them. And so their hormones go along with that idea.

That's why - for me - understanding more about food helps me. If I look at a plate of food that maybe isn't super-abundant in amount, I still actually KNOW it's enough for me.

[Hidden]

not boring at all, I am fascinated with the complexity of the human body as well as our mental responses to what is happening around us.

So keep the comments coming, I am enjoying reading them.

[Schwem7]

I like this idea. Makes me more determined! Thanks for posting it on here! My work colleague said to me that she thought I'd lost weight yesterday and it made my day and I'm only 2 weeks in xxx

[Oldgirl]

My rules of thumb when losing weight last year were:-

a. Weigh only once a week first thing Friday morning after visit to loo with little or no clothes on.

b. Measurements taken at the start and then once a month there after, the tape measure doesn't tell lies.

c. Increased my exercise which included NHS C25K & C25K+ programmes

d. Drank at least 6 glasses of water a day.

e. Eat FAD fruit and Veg.

f. Stuck to about 1400 calories a day never went much under.

Result, lost just under 3 stone in a year.