For most of my life I’ve heard people bemoan the “issue” of the last ten pounds of any weight loss experience.  Books have been written about how to lose them.  Articles published on the physiology of why they are the most difficult.  Experts have chimed in on what they believe works and what doesn’t.  The only thing everyone seems to agree on is some illusive plateau surrounding those last few pounds that supposedly make releasing them next to impossible. 

We are counseled by the experts to dread the time when we will have no choice but to step up our cardio, increase our strength training and/or change whatever has been working for us so far to lose weight, in order to fool/trick our bodies into letting go of those most obstinate last ten pounds.

Even as we make headway in releasing huge amounts of body weight, we are solemnly warned, and lead to believe the last “10” pounds will be harder than all the rest combined.  It’s a milestone we are persuaded to face with trepidation, as if our bodies are silently planning to attack for us just before we arrive at victory.

This pervasive attitude became obvious to me recently when I saw a thin, beautiful and very young “diet” professional talking in earnest on TV about the subject.  She was young enough to be fresh out of college and looked like she had been selected more for her TV appropriate appearance than for any possible experience and true understanding of what people face when losing weight.

It became obvious as she talked that she had never carried 10 extra pounds of weight in her life . . . except for possibly the weight of the school books from her education which was her claim to expertise on the subject.  She came across as empathetic, as she extolled at length the difficulty those last ten posed for others. 

Bless her clueless little heart . . . and I mean that with all of mine.  Because for the first time, as I listened to her, I saw the situation from my Abraham-Hicks (Abraham-Hicks) and Law Of Attraction perspective, and I simply had no choice but to laugh.  The ridiculousness of that common belief and the pervasiveness of it suddenly clarified in my mind. 

Immediately I realized those last pounds are only harder if we believe they are harder.  Let me provide an example.

I once experienced a trust exercise at a team building weekend for work.  I was rigged up in a safety harness with professionals handling the guide ropes and I climbed a 20 foot tall pole.  When I reached the top the plan was I was supposed to step up and stand on the very top of the pole in all my glory. 

Now I’m not afraid of heights, I have a healthy respect for them, but I don’t suffer from acrophobia and I never have.  However I have always been overweight, and at that time while I wasn’t my heaviest, I was still a very big girl.  My fear, was in making a fool of myself.  I was afraid to be a stereotypical overweight woman who couldn’t do what so many others were doing.  I wanted to be a part of the group and I wanted to prove I could climb that pole too.

So I climbed and as I did I was excited at the prospect of standing on top and feeling the pride of having accomplished it.  I was excited at being gently lowered, by the harness, back down to the ground like Peter Pan too. 

The climb up the pole was an experience in itself, and I got all the way to the top, carefully but with no real problems until I came to the last step.  In order to step up on the top of the pole I had to let go of the pole with my hands.  It was simply impossible for anyone to hold on to the pole and raise their foot up at the same time.  I had to let go and take that last step with just my feet, to step up in faith without holding on to anything. 

I heard the encouragements being shouted from below, the facilitator calling up to me to “Let go, just trust, you can do it!”  But I simply couldn’t do it.  I wasn’t afraid of being hurt, I knew I was harnessed securely so even if I fell, I would just be lowered to the ground.  Still I could not let go and take that last step. 

It seemed impossible without falling.  I felt like my own center of gravity was working against me, my knees began shaking and I knew I wasn’t going to make it that final step.  I simply couldn’t pull my fingers off that pole.  I couldn’t trust myself to step up without losing my balance, falling and profoundly embarrassing myself.  While I was proud I had made it to the top, I simply did not believe I could possibly make that last step up . . .  

Ultimately I didn’t get to experience standing on the top of the pole with my arms outstretched and feeling the pride of having conquered it.  I told them I’d had enough, I was proud of what I had already done and to lower me down from where I was.  I stepped off the metal pegs into thin air and let them lower me to the ground.  My faith in the people on the other end of the harness ropes was stronger than my faith in my own ability to step up. 

The memory of that experience has always been a bittersweet mixture of pride and missed opportunity for me.

However afterward the instructor told me something valuable I’ve never forgotten.  He explained that while my reaction was very common, it was only my thinking that made that last step so difficult.  He said the last step is actually no harder and no easier than any other step in life . . . it was just my belief in needing to hold on and my fear of letting go that created the illusion of danger and difficulty for me. 

He said that last step was just an 6 inch step like all the rest of the steps I’d taken on the pole and in fact . . . it could have been the easiest.  Because the rest of the steps on the pole required climbing, the necessity to hold on in order to pull yourself up and keep your balance.  But that last step, since you could let go with your hands, it was just like any other 6 inch step up in life. 

He reminded me “you don’t need your hands when you step up on the curb from the street.  You believe . . . you know . . . you can do it easily, so you just do it without even thinking about it.  Well, that last step was exactly the same.”  “Think about it, if you had been 2 inches off the ground instead of 20 feet, wouldn’t you have just let go, stood up and stepped up?”

He said it was only my belief in that particular step being more dangerous and nearly impossible because it was at the top of a 20 foot pole, that made it appear so hard.  He said if I had been able to simply close my eyes, calm my mind, let go of the pole and straightened up my body, envisioning stepping from the street onto the curb . . . it would have been that easy for me.

I immediately knew he was right.  And I’m grateful to this day for the lesson he taught me.  That steps are just steps, whether their a step up onto a porch or a step up onto the top of a 20 foot pole.  The difficulty level is the same.  If you close your eyes and shut out what appears to be, it’s the same action, the same commitment, the same level of difficulty and safety.

When I heard that young woman on TV talk about how much more difficult those “last 10 pounds” are to get rid of than any other, I realized that too is simply a pattern of thinking, just like that last step on the pole.  We’ve all heard it, passed the verdict around to each other and most importantly believed to be true.  But the real truth is . . . 10 pounds is just ten pounds.  Whether it’s the first ten, ten somewhere in the middle or the last ten, they are all the same. 

When I think about it I realize my body isn’t working against me.  It isn’t laying in wait, holding on to those last few pounds out of some intention to keep me from my goal.  My body doesn’t care if it releases weight or not, it doesn’t have a vested interested in keeping me fat or thin.  It simply takes direction from my vibration, it reacts to my feelings, it gives me exactly what I ask for vibrationally.

Those last ten pounds are exactly like that last step up . . . only as difficult as I believe them to be.  Or . . . as I’ve become more accustomed to think . . . as easy as I believe them to be.

I don’t know about you, but now that I see that old pattern thinking, I’ve decided when I approach those last few pounds I’m not going to get caught up in it, I’m changing my tactics now.  I refuse to see what should be the most joyous part of my journey, as a trial to be overcome.  Instead of believing the myths of others, I am starting now to create my own new thinking, I’m replacing the old stuff with new affirmations for myself:

“Every part of my adventure is exciting, sacred and easy!“
“As I release weight from my body, it gets easier and easier for me!”
“My body and I are partners, it supports me in my efforts!”
“I vibrate ease, health and self-love and my body responds!”
“The only expert in my life is ME!”
“Only I determine the joy and ease of my journey!”
“I am the creator of my experience and I choose joy, fun and ease!”

YES! YES! YES!

Much love,
Tigerlily