The Great Pocono Weight Race - Training Blog

At a Critical Point in Week 6

Here we are...at a very critical point in the Great Pocono Weight Race. If you have been following the race over the past few weeks, you may have noticed that last week's weigh-in had the lowest total pounds lost from the group.  Our contestants were, of course, frustrated. "How can this be?" and "I don't understand how I gained!" were a few comments made by the contestants as they stepped off the scale and walked into the disheartened hallway of racers.

The blogging, Facebooking and emailing that night was rampant with negative comments pertaining to the group not feeling the usual support they get from each other, and missing the typical excitement of "weigh-in night". So, at Saturday's challenge workout, I addressed the group about how everyone was feeling.

The common question was: I am working so hard...why did I gain weight or why was my weight loss so small?

Answer: Because you have already lost 20 -30 pounds in 6 weeks! Guess what, weight loss will slow down a bit. Are you still working out consistently? Still watching your portion sizes and food choices? These are very good questions to look into the mirror and ask. Rather than focusing on how the weight loss slowed down, think back to where you started, 20-something inches bigger and in poor health. You are not the same 12 people Mike and I interviewed in December.

So my advice was to refocus...Going forward for the next 4 weeks, let's not focus on the outcome (weigh-in Thursday) and focus instead on the process. Push yourself a little farther each workout, doing a little more work (either by increasing effort and resistance or increasing time of the workout), and clean up your diet. If you take in fewer calories and burn more calories, you will lose weight!

We are at a critical point of the race where some racers said that this is the point when they would typically quit. My response was...you can't quit! All 12 of them, 8 weeks ago when interviewed, said they all tried multiple diets in the past...and quit...but this time it is for good.

So if this time it is for good, I repeat...You can't quit!

No more negative talk, focus on the day-to day-tasks, and go out and buy your next pair of jeans (the next size smaller) and enjoy the ride...everything else will fall into place.