I’ve always loved carnival games.
Even though I know they’re rigged against me, I can’t give up on the idea that I can still win.
Every time I go I say I’m not doing it this time.
But all it takes is one carnie to show me how easy it is.
“Watch” they sayand then flip the ball off the backboard into the basket 5 times in a row
“See. It’s easy. You can do it.”
So I give them my hard earned money and proceed to bounce 3 balls off the backboard over the basket and onto the ground.
Feeling like I was closer on that last ball, I fork over more money. Same result. And so it goes until I run out of money or finally give up and walk away, promising to never fall for it again. I try not to think of the hundreds of dollars I’ve spent winning $.80 stuffed animals.
The truth is it’s not much different than what the weight loss industry does to people everyday.
Diet Carnie’s barking at us constantly about how easy and how fast we can lose weight.
Just use this pill and you won’t be hungry.
Just follow this meal plan and the pounds will melt away.
Just buy this exercise equipment to get in the best shape of your life.
No matter what they’re selling one thing is always the same…INSTANT RESULTS.
Listen, theres a steep psychological price for being bombarded by these messages constantly.
I call it the “Biggest Loser” mentality.
How quickly can I lose the most amount of weight. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why this is appealing.
We’re impatient people in an impatient culture.
Faster is better, but there’s a harmful side effect to thinking only in the short term.
Choosing Unsustainable Methods
It’s kind of like if you needed to get a lot of money quick.
Going back to college, working as an intern and working your way up the corporate ladder isn’t gonna work.
If getting money fast is the only thing that matters, your best option might be robbing a bank.
When it comes to weight loss if you only consider how quickly you can make it happen then you turn to extreme diets and workouts.
You think to yourself it doesn’t matter what I have to doas long as I get some results.
But what happens after a few weeks?
You’re a few pounds lighter, but you’re also grouchy, irritable, bored and hungry.
If there’s one thing worse than not being able to lose weight, it’s losing weight and then putting it all back on (just ask the 70% of Biggest Loser contestants that regained the weight).
There is another way to lose weight. It’s not something I came up with.
It’s something I recognized from studying people thathad lost weight AND KEPT IT OFF for at least 2 years.
When I realized it, I was shocked.
It was hard to believe I could have missed something so obvious, but I did.
I’ll tell you what it is in part two.