Next time you’re in the Supermarket pick up a pound of butter in your hands. It’s heavy am I right? That’s how much weight you lose when you lose 1lb on the scales. It sounds so little, one pound. I think we all picture it as much, much less in our own heads than it actually physically is & when we lose a pound there is some sort of inexplicable disappointment that accompanies it instead of the appropriate celebration it should get. We pass it off flippantly like it doesn’t matter but it most certainly does. We can’t always lose 5 to 7lb every week that would be absolutely impossible for anybody to sustain. A pound a week is the recommended loss on ANY weight loss programme & sure it’s a fantastic bonus if we lose more but that one pound needs it’s deserved recognition too. It’s those one pound loses that eventually add up to give you your overall total loss and get you to goal. A pound a week is 3 stone 10lb in a year. Theoretically as a rough guide you need to expend 3,500 calories in a week to lose 1lb, this is not set in stone & there are of course variables but as a rule of thumb it is deficit of 500 calories a day (3,500 a week) which is no mean feat!    We can be far too hard on ourselves when it comes to those one pound losses which can ultimately lead to defeat in our weight loss battle as disappointment soon leads to giving up & giving up equates to going back to where you were to begin with, is that really the right option for you?  You might have guessed by now that I lost 1lb this week. After all my hard work & exercising & putting in 100% of my very best effort I lost 1lb and I am genuinely absolutely proud, delighted & thrilled with that. I am writing this post as that most certainly wasn’t always the case, it’s only very recently I’ve learned to give 1lb the respect & recognition it deserves and made my peace with that being the result of the weeks hard work & effort as it takes hard work & effort to lose it. I’ve stood on the scales on more than one occasion and seen a pound loss before while close to tears with bitter disappointment stinging at the back of my throat ‘but I worked so hard, I did everything right, I exercised, I tracked’ these thoughts swirling in my mind. Yes I did all those things and I lost a pound! That is exactly the result you should be aiming for. That is what that hard work gets you & I’m finely fine with that. I had a right to feel that way if I had gained but certainly not for actually losing weight! It sounds absurd to me now that I have learned to celebrate my losses that I ever felt that way but I honestly did for a very long time. The moment I accepted that every week can’t be a big loss and my small losses are what get me to goal is the moment my weight loss journey became doable, easy & sustainable. I’ve been in and out of weight watchers like there was a revolving door on the place over the years, always losing & finding the same few pounds or the same few stone only to leave in utter defiance & bitterness that I didn’t somehow magically drop 2 stone in a month only to go home & put it all back on with an extra added few pounds for luck then turning up at the door of weight watchers a few weeks later, tail between my legs, with even more to lose & my confidence at an all time low. This vicious cycle continued for years with me nearly reaching goal on several occasions & having a wardrobe with more sizes of clothes than your local Penneys. This time I’ve a different mindset. I am only too delighted to see a pound come off & it’s what has pushed me along to my 40lb weight loss to date and spurs me on for the next week & the next loss. I am also delighted to be celebrating getting my next silver 7 this morning so you see those 1lbs do get you where you want to be!  So here’s to a pound! My little un-championed friend because of you I am now 40 of you lighter so cheers!