Life in ten-minute segments

I've decided to give you, faithful reader, the "secret solution" to long-term weight loss.

Write this down:

EAT LESS.

Wish there was another way? Yeah, me too.

Anyone who's ever had to lose more than three pounds knows not to eat as much. Despite what screaming tabloids and infomercials promise, calories in versus calories out is the ONLY formula for weight loss (or gain). It is simple math. So why is applying it so far from simple?

Take typical overloaded, stressful, demanding life. Blend in children, husband, bills, shopping, housework, and job. Fold in timetables, schedules, deadlines, and appointments. At day's end, I KNOW I need to eat less; I just don't WANNA (said in my best whiny inner child voice, while stomping my feet). What I WANT is to collapse on the couch with a six-pack and a bag of chips. I'll schedule dieting tomorrow; please make an appointment.

Weight loss (as all things important) requires balance between KNOWING what to do to and WANTING to do it at the same time. Our pesky kicker is that knowledge and desire travel at different velocities. Thoughts plod; urges zoom. Before one can say, "unhand that potato chip," the bag is emptied, the belly is stuffed, guilt struts its victory march. Bringing up the rear, after the damage has been done, we finally stop and think.

Overcoming this inherent psychological unfairness requires leveling the playing field. It's not required to have one's brain engaged full-time. (After all, what fun would there be in reality TV?) What is necessary is slowing the spin during "those" moments. Break the chain; take a short walk. Remember to breathe. The world will continue to revolve without our direction for just a few moments.

At the onset, time crawls. The ugly monster of craving is a fierce competitor, fighting relentlessly for attention. Then dawns the miracle: ah, those wonderful distractions! Urges fade, desires change, ten minutes become an hour, one small notch on my (now smaller) belt of success.

Life - and weight loss - is a parade of ten-minute fragments. Not all go as planned. Yet magic blossoms when we get the current one to go a tiny bit better.

If you think about it - that's all we can do