“Patience is A Virtue”…This is a line that was first documented in the 4th or 5th century by a guy named Cato The Elder (he clearly did not ever have to deal with the D.C. area traffic).
The lack of patience is probably something we are all born with. As small children, riding in the backseat of our parents’ cars on a road trip and asking “Are we there yet???” is something we all can relate to. As we grow to adulthood, driving in traffic, waiting in line at a restaurant , spending half your day at a DMV…we all can relate to a lack of patience at times.
Turning to the weight control arena: Some of the most searched terms on Google for weight loss programs/products are: “Rapid weight loss”, “Fast weight loss” and similar searches that include the desire for rapidity of weight control.
Medically, the pace/speed of weight loss is usually not at all of critical importance. The far more important issues are that: 1- the weight comes off eventually and 2- the weight loss is maintained. Whether it be diabetes control, lowering heart disease/cancer/stroke risks, lessening pain, looking younger, etc etc….these will all occur over time when weight is controlled.
However, human nature is such that we want the clothes fitting, the riddance of medications, the younger look, the absence of knee pains NOW…not sometime down the road. We often lack the patience for these very positive events to unfold.
And therein lies the problem: On the immediate basis, the food/drink sources that cause the weight control problem must be significantly curtailed/stopped but the positive effects of successful weight control will take awhile. We are giving up immediate gratification for long-term gratification…and that is sort of antithetical to our make-ups.
As children, we despised being told by our parents while waiting an hour for a 3 minute ride at a theme park: “Patience is a virtue”. Posner (not Cato) The Elder will change this line to “Patience is Needed” for those patients of ours that become frustrated that all of the weight is not lost right away. There are great things that happen along the journey, Have patience!
