Losing weight is a tricky thing. It gets even more tricky and diluted when you try and learn about your health. Every time I turn around, I read something about an indicator that I need to track for good health. Good Cholesterol, Bad Cholesterol, BMI, Body Fat, Waist Size, Carbs, Sodium…it goes on and on. There is no possible way I can keep track of every statistic.

I’ve learned that there are only a few numbers that need to be monitored and tracked and there are several numbers that are meaningless…they are ignored.

Here is my list of things I ignore on my weight loss journey:

• BMI – This calculation and statistic is the biggest joke. I’d like to have a chat with the genius that came up with this. This is a meaningless number. This is calculated only by height and weight; nothing else. It doesn’t factor in environment or other elements. Too many people get hung up on this…IGNORE IT!!!

• Carbs – Once I shed a few more pounds, I might starting tracking carbs, but weight loss really is about calories in/calories out. It just so happens that there are a lot of calories in carbs, but carbs are not necessarily a bad thing

• The numbers on the scale – I don’t totally ignore this, but there are a few other factors that are just as important that may not reflect on the scale. For example, my waist size shrunk a few inches before I even lost a pound. The most important thing is how I feel. If I feel great, the numbers on the scale don’t matter!

• Fast Food – These establishments are weight loss killers. Nothing will impeded weight loss progress like a value meal. The calories in a double hamburger and medium fries is enough for 2-3 days.

• Candy Bars – This is tough for me cause I love candy bars, but they have so many calories that I can’t justify eating them.

• Dairy Queen – I have to ignore DQ, but I think about it all the time. A large Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard is the most delicious thing on the planet. But it also has about 2000 calories. That is the equivalent to my total daily intake.

• Haters – There are people out there that don’t support your weight loss efforts. I ignore them. I know my goals, and the path I want to take. They can have my value meal, I’ll be over here improving myself.

I’ve been trying to focus on the things that matter and block out the things that are meaningless and don’t help me on my weight loss journey. Everyday I learn something new that I should or should not be focusing on. The better I get at focusing on the right things, the better off I will be and the better my chances for success. Its hard to find and focus on the right things cause there is so much minutia that gets in the way. I have to recognize what those things are, evaluate how they help me and then either incorporate them or get rid of them. I would rather go through that process than to keep track of something thats not helping me.

I’ve learned that if I focus on the right things, the better I feel and the closer I get to my goal.

I saw a quote from Rev Run that I think about quite a bit: FOCUS = (F)ollow (O)ne (C)ourse (U)ntil (S)uccess