You wake up one morning at the end of a rough night of drinking and decide to take a walk. As you step outside, you realize the weather’s just amazing – it’s not hot, but it’s not cold either. It’s just right. And you think to yourself, ‘man, it’s great to be alive during such perfect weather!’
You start off casually, but soon find yourself having fun and enjoying the company of others. You see someone walking their dog and decide to join them. You’ve got a great conversation and even though it’s been an hour since you’ve last had a drink, you feel amazing!
You continue on like this for a while, enjoying the sunshine and good feelings that come with it. Then, all of a sudden, you encounter a problem. You start noticing that you’re not losing weight. In fact, you even gain a bit of weight!
You ask yourself, ‘what the hell happened? I was fine a few hours ago!’
You call yourself a doctor, a dietician, a psychologist and a spiritual advisor – in that order – and ask them all for their help. Together, you concoct a plan to lose weight. You check off all the boxes on the list of reasons why you shouldn’t lose weight, one by one.
Here’s the list:
- You’re too old to lose weight.
- You’re too tall.
- You have poor genetics.
- You have a low metabolism.
- Your body doesn’t produce enough adrenaline.
- You eat too much sugar.
- You eat takeout too often.
- You don’t get enough sleep.
- You don’t have enough willpower.
- You don’t like yourself enough.
- Your clothes don’t fit.
- You don’t have the right trainer.
- You don’t have the right diet.
- It’s too expensive to pay for health classes and gym memberships.
- You’re not working hard enough.
- You’re not disciplined enough.
- You’re not motivated enough.
- You have low self-esteem.
- You have a poor sex life.
At this point, you’re ready to give up. You decide to go back to bed and try again tomorrow. This time, you’ll be a little more aware of what you’re doing and probably eat less pizza. Right?
Nope. Not this time.
You wake up the next morning, refreshed and ready to fight for your health and happiness. You eat a healthy breakfast and get straight to work out. You sign up for a gym membership and look into all-you-can-eat deals at restaurants. You read nutrition books and blogs, looking for advice on how to change your life. After your workout, you snack on carrots and hummus. You drink plenty of water and continue on your quest to lose weight.
You check off another box on the list of reasons why you shouldn’t lose weight. Then another. And another. And another. You’re starting to see a pattern here. But that’s not all there is to it. Because at some point, you’ll start losing weight – slowly but surely. And before you know it, you’ll be at your ideal weight. And you’ll feel awesome!
Here’s the kicker: all of this will be because of something you’ll do – not something that will happen to you. You’ll make the decision to change – to fight for your health and happiness. Something so simple, and yet so powerful.
You don’t lose weight by default. You lose weight because you make the decision to change. Now, you may feel like you’re in the right place at the right time, and that’s certainly true. But that’s all it is – a feeling. You’ll never lose weight if you don’t decide that you want to lose weight.
You have to decide that you’re going to fight for your health and happiness. Then you’ll be empowered to make the right choices and ensure that you lose weight in a healthy manner. And that’s what matters. Not the numbers on the scale, not whether you fall into the ‘normal’ or ‘overweight’ category, but whether or not you do your best to stay healthy and happy. Because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. We’re all just walking bags of flesh, trying to find our way to heaven – or at least, trying to ensure we have the best possible chance of getting there.