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Quite a few years ago an eating disorders patient moved to a distant city and left me with a book that she felt had described her progress. It was First You Have to Row a Little Boat by Richard Bode. In it, he describes himself as a youth eager to sail big boats. He meets a mentor and with a salty turn is told, “The first thing you have to do is learn to row a little boat”. He is crestfallen but takes his lessons and finds secrets he didn’t expect. First he learned that he had to pull on both oars together.
Second that the boat was hard to start since it had no engine and hard to stop since it had no brakes. It had but one source of power and that was his arms.

“I sat in the center of the dinghy, facing the stern, my destination somewhere behind me, a landfall I couldn’t see. I had to judge where I was headed from where I had been, an acquired perception which has served me well…” “What I learned wasn’t mastery over the elements; it was mastery over myself, which is what conquest is ultimately all about.”

To take the right steps in your weight loss efforts, you sometimes have to first row a little boat. Setting your plan is like setting your destination, pulling both oars is like balancing your exercise and diet to avoid spinning in place. If your plan goes a little off course, slow down and reset your goals a little closer to where you’re at compared to where you are headed. With practice you will pick up momentum and speed to your destination.

We’re here to help you achieve your weight loss goals. Contact us if you need help.

This article was originally published in a broadcast of the Health-e-Thoughts Newsletter (distributed by betterMD.net on April 9, 2003)

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