ext_6369 ([identity profile] dichroic.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] sienamystic 2010-03-10 09:21 am (UTC)

That 95% is the general population. There's no reason to assume that you are within it:

- it includes people who are losing weight only for looks - avoiding insulin shots is a powerful motive
- it includes people with no willpower (obviously you do, since you've lost significant weight - they could be talking about people who yo-yo up or down 5-10 lbs)
- it includes people who are doing stupid and extreme diets.
- it includes people who are not supported by the people around them.
- it includes people who are set in their ways and can't make changes (obv. you can, given your move from DC to NE a few years ago!)

So I see no reason *not* to assume you'd be in the 5%. (I cribbed this line of reasoning from Steven Jay Gould, who used similar figuring to convince himself he wasn't actually all that likely to die in 6 months when diagnosed with stomach cancer, despite overwhelming statistics. As it happened, he lived another decade.)

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