You are not supposed to lose weight

You want to be healthy. God knows you do.

You tried every single diet, counted every gram, point and calorie

Tested every fruit cleanse.

And yet here you are. Still in the same rut.

It’s not like your diet is horrible. .

You just like the occasional takeaway.

Or like having a drink after a long days work.
As the years go by though, every blip in the diet seems to show up on the scales.

You get to the point where it would be better to just stop caring.

But It is not all your fault.

It’s easy to blame a lack of willpower or determination for your diet shortcomings.

If you just weren’t so lazy or had the time, then you could get fit.

In actuality you are not supposed to lose weight. The system is rigged from the start. Here’s why

Reason 1 – Delicious Food

In the past our hunter gatherer brains had two objectives. Get food and procreate.

Your brain literally rewards you every time you give it something it desires.

Businesses know this. Foods are being engineered with ingredients brains can’t resist.

So you have a brain hardwired to seek out ingredients like salt and sugar given an endless supply.

It’s a bit like an alcoholic trying to give up alcohol by going into a pub everyday.

Reason 2 – Convenience

Not only have companies made high calorie foods. But they’ve also made these available at the touch of a button.

You can have 2000 calories of fast food within 30 seconds at a drive thru.

You can even pay by your phone to avoid interaction with the delivery services.

This is like the alcoholic just clicking their fingers and having a drink arrive for them.

Reason 3 – Modern Life.

That’s just the actual food.

People are stretched further than ever before for their time and energy.

Ask anyone how they are and they will say “busy”.

Longer hours, dual working families. Any free time filled with the children’s activities.

You’re left stressed and exhausted at the end of a day.

On top of managing all of this, you are expected to just say no to all the food surrounding you.

Reason 4 – Social Pressure

Every body is on the same boat. And with everybody, stretched, stressed and exhausted.

What is it they turn towards?

All of the vices of course.

But if everybody is stressed and wants to unwind after work with a few drinks.

Or if everybody over eats when out at restaurants.

Or if everybody is too busy to track how many calories they eat.

Well then you end up with a current situation.

40% of the population overweight.

Being Overweight is Normal But not Okay

It’s perfectly normal to not be healthy. Acceptable to let your health slide.

But life isn’t going to get any easier anytime soon.

Food is only going  to become even more convenient.

People are still going to drink and eat too much.

Work and stress are only going to get worse.

So when you think it is too hard to get fit. You must think to yourself.
“What’s the alternative to this hard life?.”

The alternative to the hard life is a future life of poor health. All of those diseases. The heart disease, the cancers.

Three Ways to Lose weight and Still have a life

Does that mean unless you eat kale salads for the rest of your life, you are doomed in your weight loss?

Absolutely NOT!

You can come out the other side.

Here’s three ways you can lose weight, be fit, healthy and still have a life.

1) Know what is most Important to you

Have you ever sat down to ask yourself the things that you find most important?

Life gets so busy you never get a chance to even contemplate this question.

Usually the instant reaction to a question like this is the obvious answers.

You might say the children or supporting your family.

Or you might even say your health if you are reading an article like this.

Once you ask yourself what is most important, the next thing you should ask is whether your behaviour supports your original answer.

When you say that being there for the children is most important.

Yet you drink most nights and eat garbage on the weekends.

Does that really fit the narrative of you supporting the values most precious to you?

Your kids and your health might be important.

But the feeling of relaxation after work. Drinking the bottle of wine and having the take away. That becomes the most important thing at that time.

You need to be aware of the most important things in your life and use those as a gauge when making food decisions.

2) Build Your New Environment.

Changing yourself is incredibly hard. You have a long history with food and exercise that makes developing the willpower and fortitude very difficult

B
ut changing the environment around you can h
ave a profound effect on your behaviour.

The greatest thing you can do is make the healthy things as easy as possible to achieve and make the less than ideal things as hard as possible.

The idea is to build your environment as an alcoholic would avoid the pub.

Instead of buying all of the treats in the house, remove them and avoid buying them.

Park the car away from the office to force you to walk.

3) Get Support

No matter how many blogs, how many diet books you read or diet clubs you join.

Without support you will not last.

That support can come in the paid form, hiring a nutrition coach or doing some online coaching.

Or it can also come from the people you spend the most time with.

Your spouse or your closest friends.

With all the temptation to go off the healthy food path, the more support you can gather the better.

Ever notice how much more effective your diet is when your spouse is on board

Or how much motivation a personal trainer can provide.

The support around you can give you more drive you could ever have for yourself.

It won’t be easy but you can do it

It’s hard. Probably the most difficult thing you can ever do.

Changing the natural tendency of humans to be lazy and eat as much as possible.

It can feel like you are swimming against the tide when it comes to weight loss.

But you stand a chance at losing weight and having a life if you

1. Change the environment around you

2. Know what is most important to you

3. Get the support around you.

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