According to the Boston Medical Center An estimated 45 million Americans diet each year and spend $33 billion annually on weight loss products. Yet, nearly
two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Wow! That's quite the statistic! If we're spending so much on dieting solutions, why are we still overweight? It makes no sense if you really think about it?
As a Beachbody Coach, one of the biggest reason I hear from people that I talk to as to why they don't get started on a program is that they can't afford it. While this may actually be true some of the time, I am confident that it is not the case the
MAJORITY o
f the time. Maybe that's a pretty bold statement....but I believe it to be true. Look at the statistic above: $
33 BILLION ANNUALLY.
So it's not that we don't have the money to spend, it's that we're spending the money on solutions that don't work long term.
How many of us have taken a pill, done a crash diet, completely cut out whole food groups, or done excessive cardio in order to lose weight? (You don't have to raise your hand) The truth is that MOST of us have. In our society it's this constant struggle to lose weight, right? So then why do we keep going through this cycle of quick fixes and it doesn't actually last?
IT'S BECAUSE THE QUICK FIXES AREN'T FIXING THE ROOT PROBLEM AND GETTING YOURSELF BACK IN SHAPE TAKES HARD WORK!
There! That's it! I said it! I said what has needed to be said and shouted from the rooftops for years! We are going through this cycle over and over and over again because we're never learning what causes it in the first place. We don't know how to eat the right foods to get the right nutrition and we don't know how to work hard and get a little bit uncomfortable. I blame it on nothing more than our society. We've been conditioned to resist anything that takes a little bit of hard work on our part. We have drive through, we have meals delivered, we even have mint strips that dissolve on our tongues so that we don't have to CHEW gum to get fresh breath anymore. I mean, c'mon! We don't want to work hard for anything more.
The reality is, guys, that it will take hard work to lose weight, get fit, and learn better eating habits. It's going to take your commitment, it's going to take your dedication, it's going to take a little bit of a financial investment a lot of the time, and more than anything it's going to take TIME! You did not gain 50 pounds overnight, did you? You didn't even gain it in a week or a month or a year. It took several years to get where you are right now. Especially if you're in a situation where you've ALWAYS struggled with your weight. I understand that you're unhappy. I understand that you want results like yesterday. I understand that you're tired of feeling sluggish and unhappy. I get it! I've been there. But let me tell you something.... Some of these solutions that we resort to are not only ineffective, but they're DANGEROUS!
Diet pills, crash dieting, and excessive cardio to the point of exhaustion are all dangerous practices! Stop doing them. They don't work. Because what is going to happen is that you are going to risk your health to see quick results. You're going to get the quick results. But you've still learned nothing about what got you there in the first place. You still don't know how to eat properly and you still don't know anything about being more active. Don't believe me? Look at the typical cycle of anyone who falls into these traps. The truth is that we're dropping BIG money as a society on things that just don't have long term success. So after we've lost all of our desires weight and we come off of our "diet" we go right back to the old habits. We've learned nothing and we haven't grown at all.
So what is my solution? My solution is hard work! My solution is the good old fashioned solution of more movement and the right food. Notice that I didn't say LESS food. I said the RIGHT food! We are nutritionally STARVING in America! Eating less isn't the solution. We need calories. We have to have them to function. We don't need to be scared of calories. But we need to get the right calories. We need to have carbs, we need to have protein, we need to have fat, and we need to have vegetables and fruits. What we need to have LESS of is the wrong foods, not food itself. We need less sugar. We need less processed meals. We need less food where everything good about it is missing. So not less food, just less junk!
And we need to move more! I am someone who works at a desk. For 40 hours per week I am confined to that desk like it's my prison. Did you know that even though I have a super intense workout in the morning, I am undoing so much of the benefits by sitting for the majority of the day? That's why I have to be intentional about movement at my job. And we all need to be intentional about movement at our jobs if we work behind a desk. Get up and walk around a bit every 60 minutes. Go get a drink of water. Make a lap around the office. Instead of emailing your coworker, walk over and tell them whatever it is you need to tell them. It's not just about our 30-60 minute workouts. Those are important and we need to develop good workout habits, but it's about just moving more in general. Spending less time in front of the TV and more time taking a walk around the block with our families. Instead of just coming home and sitting on the couch, we need to stand up more at home.
What what do we need less of? Junk, quick fixes, and lackadaisical effort! What do we need more of? Commitment, dedication, good nutrition, and movement! Can you imagine thinking about what you're doing as a lifestyle change and not just a diet? What would happen? You would realize that you are developing new habits and not just doing something part time to go right back into your old habit tomorrow. That is why quick fixes don't work. Because they don't teach you anything. They give you the easy way out when what it actually takes is the time, dedication, and commitment that we talked about earlier!
What I absolutely love about Beachbody is that there is a beautiful combination of all of these elements. We have the fitness covered through the amazing workouts we offer with top professional (think P90X, Insanity, 21 Day Fix) and we pair that with good nutrition, think Shakeology. (Read more about Shakeology and the nutrition it provides you
HERE.) And now we even have programs like the 21 Day Fix that teaches you how to eat the correct portions of the correct food groups. And on top of that we offer support and accountability through the coach support network and our Challenge Groups! That's why I became a Beachbody Coach. Because we truly offer the entire package to effectively help people not only start but
MAINTAIN healthy lifestyles!
