Sunday, August 9, 2009

Taking responsibility

As I talk to more and more overweight people I get a sense from them that they have no idea how they got the way that they are, and have no idea on how to change it. I was that person. I wanted someone to make it easy for me, tell me exactly what to eat, lay it all out in front of me and just have me do it. It's not quite that simple. There are plenty of web sites out there that will give you a meal plan and tell you to follow it to lose weight. They'll lay it all out and even print a nice handy grocery list for you so you can shop from it. I've tried them, and you know what? I STILL didn't stick with it.

What happens though when those sites are gone? Or you aren't going to pay for them anymore? Are you going to just keep following those same meal plans the rest of your life? Of course not. Anything that limits you in what you can and can't have has a greater chance of failure. You need options, if you feel restricted, you are less likely to stick with your lifestyle, thats just human nature. I needed to learn what to eat for myself. Not have someone tell me what to eat and do. I needed to take the responsibility on myself. To learn what foods were good, and what wasn't.

I knew what got me in the state I am in. Over eating and being lazy, no doubt about it. It's not my genes, or a thyroid or anything else. I ate more calories than my body burned on a daily basis, I stopped being active and I blew up. I take responsibility for that. In taking that responsibility, I know that I am taking my life into my own hands. Sounds crazy? It's not. Everyday , I talk to people that feel like they have no control of their lives or health. It's as if they are possessed by some other creature that is living inside of them and going against what they want to do each day. Someone else packs they're lunch, makes them eat bad things and then makes them feel guilty for it. It's always someone else's fault that they got the way they are. It was some surgery, or some medication or some in grown toe nail that made them gain weight. They've even tried to blame the fast food companies for they're problems. It's never over eating, and never fault of their own.

And in our society today we want instant gratification. We want to take that pill that makes the fat fall right off of us. We want to work out for an hour and produce quick immediate and drastic results. There is always some new fad diet, or miracle pill that someone is producing that claims you'll lose buckets of fat. NONE of them work. To lose weight there is only one thing to remember. You must have a calorie deficit. You either eat less, or burn more than your body is consuming. That's the rule. No fancy gimmicks, no pills or miracle cures. That's it. And just as slowly as it went on, it will come off. If you want it bad enough.

Until we take the responsibility for our own health and actions, we'll continue to be an obese society.