Week Two: Chase Two Rabbits And Both Will Escape

The fox, he must commit to one target. If he chases two rabbits, they both will escape. So the saying goes.

Me, I have lost count of how many rabbits I am figuratively chasing, in regard to my health goals. I am trying to lose weight and get stronger and run again and become more agile and be a faster skater and boy that is a lot of stuff off the top of my head.

And invariably as I head off to capture these rabbits they all scamper away and I decide to have a piece of cake for breakfast and here we go again with all the dang rabbits.

So I decided, in my infinite wisdom, that each week will have its own goal, and I’ll be focused on that, and perhaps I will capture my one rabbit that week.

There are some folks who agree with this plan of attack.

Among them: the American Diabetes Foundation, who says setting realistic goals can have an impact, even though the goals are small.

“Most people set out to lose a large sum of weight popularized by fad diets as well as the media. Something to keep in mind is the health benefits you can see with a smaller weight loss 5-10 percent of body weight. For a 180-pound individual, that translates to 9-18 pounds. That may not seem close to the 40 pounds or more you’d like to lose, but it is a huge bonus for your health if you lose fewer pounds and keep them off,” announced the ADF in a press release.

Well, chasing nine rabbits seems a lot less daunting than chasing 40 of them.

One rabbit, er, pound each week is what I’m going for. To lose, that is.

The Center for Disease Control says that this tortoise, and not the hare, approach to weight loss is both feasible and successful: “Evidence shows that people who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off.”

With hope, the whole thing doesn’t end up like Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.  

It’s rabbit season all the time when you’re trying to get healthy.

But hey, one week at a time.

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