's motd Sunday May 23, 2010

[Guest guest]

BODY TYPES

Sunday, 23 May 2010

Amber E-mailed a few days ago to tell me that she was very upset. She and her next door neighbor had decided to buddy-up and begin a weight-loss program together. It would be perfect. The two of them would support each other all the way to their goals. (Sounds like a good plan to me!)

They planned their meals together and they exercised together. Sometimes they would take walks or exercise at home to some workout DVDs. Amber even bought Judy and herself little food diaries so they could stay responsible by journaling their meals. And every Friday morning, the two of them would check their weight and report back to each other.The first week, Amber was really excited...she'd lost two pounds! But when she called to share the good news with , she got a report that had lost four-and-a-half pounds. Amber told how happy she was for her! But when she got off the phone, began asking herself questions..."That's funny. We both did the same amount of exercise. We pretty much ate the same things but how did lose twice as much weight as me?"Well, the next week, the ladies followed the same routine as week one. They both ate healthy meals within their set number of calories. They both worked out together, just like the week before, an hour-and-fifteen minutes each day. Then at the end of week 2, it was time again for the weigh-in news. In that second week, Amber lost 1.6 pounds. (Which is great, by the way!) But this time, had lost another three pounds.

By now, Amber really couldn't figure out what was going on. She even asked if she were exercising more, on and her own, when they weren't working out together. told her no, that their daily exercise routines was her only exercise all week long. Then came the "dreaded," (for Amber anyway), week 3. That week, Amber lost one pound and, you guessed it, lost another two. Well, this time, Amber got upset and even cast a few harsh words 's way. A little fight ensued over the phone and let's just say the conversation didn't end well. That little fight has turned into a rather large feud and now they're not even talking to each other. (How sad!)I received an E-mail from Amber telling me about what had happened. She asked what I thought of she and 's situation.I told Amber that, in a way, she'd placed herself in an unhealthy competitive relationship with over their weight-loss efforts. I explained to her that we all have different body types and that every body doesn't lose weight the same. I also told her that she'd become a little jealous of 's success and it was not a healthy direction for her to be taking with such a good friend. I told her to not be jealous of but to be happy for her. She shouldn't have been jealous that lost more weight. In fact, she should have put her arms around her, given her a big hug and said...congratulations. Then she should let 's success inspire her to keep right on fighting. (That goes for all of you.)

I'm not into the concept of "competitive weight-loss." After all, it's about your weight-loss and that's really what you should focus on. I suggested Amber go next door, apologize to and be honest, telling her what's been going through her mind.I'll bet by now that their friendship is back on the right track and their friendly weight-loss efforts are back on track, too. Oh, I just love happy endings. Don't you?Love,