The magic pill

I spent a lot of time on the road this weekend and at one point I heard an ad for a diet pill of some kind.  It caught my attention because of the initial qualifications they were looking for.  They wanted people over 25, not just "legal" age and people that had more than 25 pounds to lose so not just someone wanting to fit into a particular outfit better.

I had heard the ad before and kind of scoffed at it when I heard it but this time I paid attention to their selling point.  The ad made it sound as though this pill or tablet was almost guaranteed to work and the best part was - you don't have to change anything about your lifestyle to make it happen.  Maybe that will work for some people.  As I've stated before I am not a doctor, a nutritionist, a fitness trainer, or a health coach.  I have, however, discovered a few things so far on my journey.

I was not overweight because God had predetermined I would be.  I was not overweight because of a medical condition (some people have conditions that may contribute to obesity).  I was very clearly overweight as a result of the lifestyle I was living and the choices I made in what I ate and how active I was.

I am losing weight and losing it reasonably quickly but it is not because of a specialized diet, a pill, or the newest workout fad.  I am changing my lifestyle.  There are some specific things I do in this new lifestyle.  I find ways to be more active than I was before.  Sometimes that is as simple as parking farther away from the store so I have to walk farther to get there.  Or walking to and from work (I live close enough this is a reasonable option).  I have a gym membership I haven't used since the middle of May but it's there when I need a little more activity.  I've shopped around for better food.  I pay attention to what I eat and am consciously choosing foods with lower calories and lower sodium.  I've discovered just how bad some things were that I used to eat on a somewhat consistent basis and I rarely go after them.

I'm not on a journey to lose weight.  I'm on a journey to change my lifestyle and the weight loss is a side benefit of that new lifestyle.  I've heard, seen, and read stories of people who tried this fad or that fad and even some surgical options with the idea that they wouldn't need to change their lifestyle.  If you keep doing what you've always done, why in the world would you expect to get different results? 

If you want a lasting change in your life you'll need to change at least one contributing factor to your current status-quo.  That is the only way I see a lasting change happening.  If you're looking for answers and being shown a product or formula that doesn't require any changes in your lifestyle - I'd keep looking.  Getting a different result requires doing something different.  I'm living proof.

Less of me.  More of Him.

-Eric