Debt Dieting Is a Lot Like Weight Loss

With the passing of my birthday last weekend, I decided it was time to make some major changes in the direction of my life. Adding to the financial changes we’ve made, I also began some personal, physical changes as well.

Since graduating high school 10 years ago, I have steadily gained weight every year, with only one year of genuine weight loss (about 20 lbs that year). Sadly, I am now 50 pounds heavier today than I was when I gleefully tossed my mortarboard into the air. These added pounds have taken a toll on me physically – I look bad and I’m in poor shape. But that will change this year as I start taking off that weight and getting into better shape.

After reading an interesting resource, The Hacker’s Diet, by John Walker, I began to notice some interesting parallels between the science of losing weight and losing debt.

We, as Americans, are overweight and financially obese. We have overspent much more than we’ve overeaten and now we’re too fiscally fat to move. We have no choice but to take a debt diet.

The problem is, just like starting a food diet, it’s uncomfortable to ease back on spending. We’ve become addicted to spending and the stuff it acquires and our bodies go into shock when we suddenly pull back. The biggest pain in starting a diet occurs over the first 3 days before your body starts to adjust to the changes. Similarly, a debt diet really feels the worst for the first few months. That pain is why most people quit diets, but those who quit often end the diet just before the benefits really start to show themselves and things get easier.

And things really do get easier… Once your body adjusts to its new reality, it’s a lot easier to cope. Soon you’ll start seeing the weight or debt fall away and you’ll start getting addicted to seeing results. You’ll be less interested in food or spending and you’ll be eager to lose even more. And you might be surprised by how big the results can be!

The maximum “safe” weight-loss plan loses about 2 pounds per week on average after the ramp-up period. That means I could reasonably lose all of my desired fat in just 25 weeks – I’d be thin before fall! Your debt can fall off in the same dramatic fashion. As I illustrated over the past two weeks with the power of the snowball and how to make your snowballs work in overdrive, when you earnestly start paying your debt and even paying extra, even a sizable debt can melt away in just a few months to a few years. All it takes is the discipline to start and keep pushing through the hard times.

I won’t lie: dieting is painful. You are voluntarily starving yourself of what you previously desired for the sake of your health and wallet. It’s only reasonable that it won’t come easy. The goal is to start losing and then lose steadily until your goal is reached.

If you are in need of a diet, there is no reason to not start immediately. Cut back on calories or spending and start working toward your future right now. You’ll have plenty of cheerleaders along the way, myself included, and you’ll thank yourself when it’s over.

Good luck!