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My Road To Health: Part V
4. Be Realistic
Lose 20 pounds by Christmas! Fit into your skinny jeans by Friday! Never Eat Again!
We’ve all seen them. The ridiculous headlines that cover magazines each week. Or the infomercials on TV. Or the advertisements. They are selling a multi-billion dollar industry to desperate individuals needing a quick fix.
I will admit, I used to be one of those desperate people who needed a quick fix. I wanted to believe that loosing 20 pounds by Christmas was a possibility or fitting into my skinny jeans could be done by Friday. Never eat again? Sure, sign me up. I really have to laugh when I look back on those days. Unrealistic expectations aren’t even the right words to describe what the weight loss industry provides our society.
And you’d think when we tried the carbon copy magazine diet and failed miserably we would realize that the 800 calorie diet was unrealistic. But we don’t, because the industry wants us to believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with us.
We are fat, gluttonous, and have no self control. If we did, we wouldn’t be fat and we certainly wouldn’t have any problem following this diet. Right?
Wrong.
So. Very. Wrong.
Who wants to eat grilled chicken and steamed vegetables every night? I sure don’t.
A sugar free popsicle for dessert, you say? SIGN ME THE HELL UP. I’ll buy 18 boxes of those sugar free popsicles. Aspertame, Smashpertame.
Is it any wonder that these crazy diets make men and women beeline for the nearest Pizza Hut?
So. Very. Wrong.
The whole weight-loss industry has created morons out of innocent, other wise smart individuals.
I used to be one of those morons. Eric may argue that I still am. :D However, I am not a weight-loss, health, and fitness moron anymore.
As I said, I used to have very, very unrealistic expectations for myself and for my body. The best thing I ever did for myself was to let go of these unrealistic expectations.
When I did, I had to swallow a few things:
- My arms may never be as skinny as I would like them to be. I am muscular and not a twig.
- Repeat above, except for legs.
- I gain weight quite easily. And no, it doesn’t come off as fast as it goes on. Ever. Not even close.
- I have an appetite. I will never be one of those women who snack on a grape. I enjoy food, and I will eat lots of it.
- I do not have a supermodel’s body and nor will I ever have legs as long as a giraffe. Just ain’t happening.
Admitting to yourself the lies you have told yourself for years is the first step in throwing out your unrealistic expectations.
Now you’ve got some homework to do.
Write down all of your unrealistic expectations that you’ve been holding onto for years. Make a list. Leave it in the comments if you dare.
This post will be continued tomorrow. I just got caught up in a late night infomercial for the ab-a-tron.
Just kidding. :D
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“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” ~Unknown