Life is ten percent what happens to you
And ninety percent how you respond to it.
~Charles Swindoll
I joined a five-day ad challenge for writers a few weeks ago and learned not only about ads but about human behavior too.
WE always want to arrive at our destination yesterday, skipping the trials and tribulation part.
And of course, we can’t do that. To be successful, we sometimes need to plant the seed and wait.
When we take the slow and steady route, the positive results are tenfold.
Take dieting, for instance. I hear over and over from my patients working towards correcting their weight that they want the results yesterday.
I Want it Now!
Most of us don’t want to do any trial and tribulation. Instead, we want to wake and be thin. Or wake and stop bingeing and purging.
No promise, no pill, and no surgery will give these results.
I wish there was a magical wand for such results, but there’s not. Nope. It’s a slow and steady process.
Just like learning ads, it’s a slow and steady response. It’s plugging away day after day to see what sticks and what doesn’t.
When we are correcting our relationship with food, it takes time. Jumping on the newest fad diet will not bring the results you’re looking for. It will only bring disappointment and make you feel worse than before you started the brilliant plan.
Sure, you might lose a huge amount of weight, or correct the poor behaviors but it’s not sustainable. And that’s what we’re looking for in any change we’re working towards, long-term, positive results.
Something that runs the long course, not an instant wonder, those don’t last.
You Always Have A Choice!
Diet programs are blasting messages more than usual this time of year, making for such confusion about what to do to get back into shape.
Different institutions promise if you do this or you do that, you’ll drop ten pounds in two weeks or fifty pounds in thirty days only to find none of the suggestions are working for you.
And Then There’s Martha…
Martha bounced into my office full of giddy joy, which I hadn’t seen in a while. She announced she was only going to eat protein and vegetables and no fat or carbs or fruit or dairy. I looked at her with wide eyes, nodding.
“Yep, I’m going to stop eating the other foods because I’m in a hurry to get this weight off. I’m tired of being heavy.”
Martha is not alone.
“I found a pill that’s going to get me where I want to go, skinny,” Martha bellowed.
Many of us want to conquer that big win we’re looking for.
Martha has to find her way. Though I wanted to bang my head against the wall and yell, NO MARTHA THAT’S NOT HOW YOU DO THIS.
I can’t.
Martha is going down her path and most likely, in time, she’ll find this is not the best idea.
If I tell her she’s got it all wrong, it goes on deaf ears, but when she discovers the truth, it becomes a huge VOILA!
Sit and Wait
So, sit back, I do.
You might think, whoa you’re the therapist, shouldn’t you intercept? NO. I’m guiding not the Gestapo.
I know many Marathas that stay on the same diet track all of their life with lots of weight or too little weight because they’re afraid to let go of their false beliefs.
But I know plenty of other Martha-like that get on board early in the weight chase and find their long and steady path to lifelong success.
Many find their way through personal trial and error. I can offer the slow-and-steady wins the race approach but can’t force it or insist. It’s personal and will only work in the person’s time frame, not mine.
If I could count how many times someone, whether it’s family, friends, patients, or someone in passing, tells me they’re on such-and-such diet and it’s WORKING, I’d be out of numbers!!!
They start with such excitement, going head first with optimism.
I smile and nod, not saying too much. I know. I know how this movie is going to play out.
How do I know? Because I’d been the actor; the primary star in many of these types of movies myself. And they don’t work long term. It’s a quick high and a fast fall.
It’s a slump worse than the weight issue to begin with…
No, slow and steady wins the race
Eating three healthy meals and a half meal does the trick. Incorporate fresh fruits, lean proteins, lots of colorful vegetables, some dairy and healthy fats and you’re off to an amazing start.
And then add in moderate exercise and you are on to a win.
I know you’re reading this saying that’s nothing new, everyone knows this.
Do we? Do we really?
No, we don’t. Because if we did, we’d take the slow and steady train into sustainability. But most of us are in a hurry.
So, my message to you is to take your time and do it right. Just like with the ads, it’s a very slow process, but the rewards are long term. Yes, long term.
My first three books: Release Your Obsession with Food: Heal from the Inside Out; Release Your Obsession with Diet Chatter: Heal from the Inside Out; and, Release Your Obsession with Cheat DAZE: Heal from the Inside Out discuss how food behaviors and thoughts get in our way of reaching our healthy, authentic self.
Are you looking at the quick fix? How’s that working for you? How many quick fixes have you signed into? And the results? If you found a sustainable route please do share, we’d all love to hear from you.
Share your thoughts by simply scrolling down to the comments section…
Thank you for spending time with me and my thoughts throughout these pages. I hope my words lit your excitement to become your best self for you.
I also look forward to sharing my newest book with you on how to Release Your obsession with YOUR PHONE: Heal from the Inside Out.
God bless you… and your journey through this life and all that awaits beyond…
Thank you for being a part of the reading blog forum of this blog. If you have something you’d like to say, I’d love to hear it. YOU are important and your words need to be heard. I’m here for you.
Stay tuned…you never know where my mind will wander…
Hugs to you, I care!
