No One Is Coming To Save You
That title sounds very pessimistic doesn’t it?
But I’ve phrased it that way for a very specific reason. Because I believe it’s true.
I have always been amazed at our ability to be comforted by false hope, this is something I have done myself hundreds of times. Let’s face it we all want to believe that there is something or someone looking out for our interests, and that “they or it” will eventually come to our rescue and solve all the problems (or at least the major ones) in our lives.
To be completely honest for the vast majority of us, there is no one coming to save us from our problems, no leprechaun with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
At first you may think I’m talking about religion and while I’m sure you can apply this argument to that field, that is not what I am referring to here.
The best example that I can think of is the popularity of lotteries! Is Lady luck on your side? (don’t worry this is related to weight loss at the end)
Lotteries – Solutions for your Financial Problems
I live in Canada and we have dozens of lotteries available for us to play daily and weekly. The most popular one is lotto 6/49. Basically you pick 6 numbers between 1 and 49 and for $2 you have a chance at winning a few million dollars.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 14 million to 1. You have a 99.99% chance of not winning the jackpot. Yet, millions and millions of Canadians play it twice a week, some spending hundreds per draw on these tickets. (I’ve been stuck behind them in a line before)
The lottery for so many people is that great false hope. People know that the odds of them winning the jackpot are astronomical but they play it anyway. Why and why is it dangerous?
Besides the lost money, which can add up to thousands over a lifetime, I believe that the lottery and other games like it give people an easy way to avoid doing the necessary work needed to succeed in life. (financially speaking anyway).
Earning a comfortable living* is not an easy thing to achieve, it takes education, it takes a lot of effort on your part and if you are looking to start your own business a lot of time and money.
Add in the easy access and convenience of credit cards to debt amounts that seem to compound every month and you get many people giving up or avoiding the problem all together.
They stop taking action, instead of trying to change their habits they consoildate the debts only to have them pile up again. They are waiting to be saved rather than trying to save themselves. You think the last thing people in this position would do is throw away a few more dollars on the lottery, but believe it or not from what I have seen firsthand in some cases their “lotto budget” increases as their debt gets bigger.
Obviously I’m not a fan of the lottery, but what makes it worse and angers me is the way in which it is promoted. The Lotto 6/49 slogan is “Just Imagine” meaning just imagine what you could buy with millions of dollars, which just fuels the fantasy and imagine the bills/debts you can pay off “if” you win.
6/49 is advertised everywhere and has just become a part of our Canadian culture. While they technically promote winning the jackpot and its ability to dramatically change your life, there is always this underlying fear that goes along with it. “What if your numbers come up and you didn’t play?”
The Answer To Your Biggest Question
Ok Steve enough with the Lottery rant, how does this relate to losing weight and trying to live a healthy lifestyle?
IT relates like this: Just like the lottery people are looking for the easy out when it comes to losing weight, instead of money problems they are waiting for the “FAT” problem to be solved.
1. They want to lose fat without doing the necessary work to burn the fat.
2. They want to eat fewer calories without having to eat less food.
3. They are waiting for someone to answer their biggest weight loss question, “how do I lose weight” and give them the solution to their greatest desire “I want to lose weight”. In essence they are waiting to be saved.
The answer to solving the lottery/money problem is the same for solving the weight loss problem: YOU TAKING ACTION. You already know that you need to exercise to burn more calories, you know that you need to eat at least 1500 calories per day consisting of good healthy nutritious food like Fruits and veggies, lean meats, low fat dairy products, whole grains and indulge with the occasional treat, (1500 calories of burgers and fries won’t cut it).
(For finances I take the “curb your spending and increase your income/investments” approch)
So get off your ass and do it already, stop waiting to be saved and save yourself.
Share and Enjoy
The Benefits of Weight Loss Series Benefit #1
Now whenever I have seen an article or post on the benefits of losing weight they are presented in the usual list format. Each point is not given too much detail.
Over the coming weeks I will be posting on some of the tangible and intangible benefits of losing weight. These will be based mostly on what I have witnessed and experienced during my own transformation.
Benefit # 1
Improved Self Confidence
As an overweight guy I was always embarrassed about the way I looked. Sure I’d make light of it and crack a few jokes about my gut, ” I have washboard abs, there’s just a load of laundry on them right now” or “I don’t have a six pack I have a keg“ Everyone would get a good laugh and I would use it as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted, which almost felt like It was expected of me.
I would also do the little things that all self concise overweight people do. Wear baggy clothes, constantly pull at my shirt so that it didn’t cling to my gut for all to see, avoid eye contact with people and I even made fun of other overweight people in an attempt to take the attention way from myself.
Now that I’m no longer overweight I have changed all that behavior. Most noticeably lately has been the eye contact. It’s an amazing thing to look right into another person’s eyes and not worry about weather or not they think you’re fat.
I know that I work hard, watch my diet, exercise regularly and have taken control of my health. I have already proved to myself that I’m worthy and deserve a better body, a better lifestyle and a better image of how I should act.
Weight loss and self confidence go hand in hand. As your weight goes down your confidence goes up. You being to realize that you are capable of more than anyone has given you credit for.
You may start out wanting to lose weight in order to prove something to someone else. But in the end all that matters is that you prove to yourself that you can do it. No ones opinion of you is as important as your own.
Recent Comments