How the Compound Effect can Help You Lose Weight

One of the most dangerous traps that you can fall into while dieting is having the “It’s all or nothing” attitude.  But sadly, this is why many people who are trying to lose weight fail at their attempts.  They make a mistake here and there, whether that is missing a day of exercise or indulging in treats too frequently, and end up so discouraged that they just give up completely. 

Losing sight of the big picture is deadly if you are on a weight loss journey.  But it is sometimes hard to see the big picture when you get mired down in the day to day grind of little decisions.  The truth is that everybody fails sometimes.  Everybody.  If you expect perfection from yourself, you will certainly be disappointed, because it is not possible.

You see, focusing on occasional failures is like looking at snapshots rather than the entire movie.   If you went to see a movie that was two hours in length, you would see a whole story complete with plot, background, character development, suspense, and conclusion.  In other words, you would come away with a full scope of the big picture. 

But suppose your friend, rather than seeing the movie, only saw a handful of still shots from it.  Would your perception be different?  Of course it would.  You might even disagree about what happened in the movie.  This is because she can only focus on a few aspects of the movie, whereas you can see the big picture.  Sure, the main character might have made a mistake at some point, or perhaps things looked really bad for part of the movie, but that is only part of the movie.  It is not the final outcome.

Looking at your own journey to health in the same way is critical if you are going to get through the bad days and the periods of discouragement.  Your failures are only a still shot within a fully developed screen play.  The extra dessert you ate yesterday is a snap shot; it is not the whole picture.  The whole picture includes the one hundred times last month that you resisted unhealthy food!

This is why the compound effect is so helpful when you are making hard lifestyle changes.  Every single good decision you make adds up to a magnificent outcome.  Sure, maybe you did skip your workout three times last week.  Okay, that happens; it was a rough week.  But remember how many workouts you have accomplished over the last six months?  Remember how you took the stairs instead of the elevator several times last week ?  Flex your muscles—see that bicep that you have developed from lifting heavy dumbbells? 

Healthy choices compound together to create a tapestry of health.  They are cumulative.  They are the movie, not the snap shot. You will fall occasionally.  Just pick yourself up, acknowledge that you are not perfect, remind yourself of how far you have come and file that snap shot away.  You don’t need it:  you have an entire movie to watch.