The Aisle of False Hope

In 2023 over 2.1 billion dollars were spent on weight loss.   This encompasses supplements, diet pills, gyms, weight loss coaches, wearables for fitness and ready to eat meals.   People are concerned about their health and there are plenty of entrepreneurs out there willing to bet on the fears of heart attacks, obesity, and pulmonary issues to make some money.   It’s easy enough to someone to buy into their product, just tell them what they want to hear.  “We have the solution to your problems!  No diet or exercise needed! Eat whatever you want and watch the pounds melt away!”   Any of these slogans sound familiar?    They are designed to appeal to your desire to shed those pounds quickly.   News flash!  It took a while to pack the pounds on, it is going to take a while to take them off.   There is no such thing as a magic pill or instant result.   You are going to have to work for what you want.    

Losing 1 to 2 lbs. per week is the reality you will need to accept.  If you lose weight rapidly right away, it is most likely just water weight.   The magic pill is not going to teach you good habits, you will need to learn them.   This means portion control, calorie control… SELF- control.   There are no pills, supplements, creams or machines that will be able to give you control. That is all up to you and you are alone.      

Exercise is important as well.  You cannot sit on the couch and just eat.  You need to get up and moving to efficiently burn those calories and build muscle.   Walking is one of the most popular and the easiest of all exercises you can practice.   After dinner, instead of flopping down to binge watch the latest show, take 20 minutes to go for a walk.  If weather isn’t permitting, find a YouTube video that’s fun (I highly recommend kids videos for exercise like Danny Go) and follow along for 20 minutes.     

If you have injuries, like a bad back (I tend to suffer from this myself quite often) walk as much as you can or find exercises that are strengthening exercises for your particular ailment.   Don’t use an injury as an excuse to skip this part of your journey.    We literally have everything we need in the way of information at the tips of our fingers.  If you don’t know how to do something, simply do a search on the internet using your favorite search engine.     I live at minimum 15 minutes from the nearest gym, so it is far easier for me to exercise at home.  Not being able to get to the gym is also not an excuse, you can find a way to exercise.  

Bottom line is, you are faced daily with advertisements promising you a better tomorrow if you buy their products.  They give you a lot of promises and false hope.   You have all the power without purchasing the gimmicks.   The only thing that stops you is yourself.