The weight loss industry is a $60 billion dollar industry with a failure rate of over 95%. I confess. I’m part of the 95%. I’m a failure. What about you?
Are you like me: you’ve lost a lot of weight but it came back? A few years ago I thought I had it all figured out. I weighed less than I did in eighth grade. I’d lost 10″ around my waist. My doctoral project focused on the subject of gluttony. But that was then, this is now. And now too much of the weight has come back. Has this ever happened to you?
If the answer is “yes” then you may have embraced a deadly conclusion: “I can never lose weight and keep it off.” Deadly? Yes, excess weight is a killer. And as I age, it’s dawning on me I don’t see too many old people dragging around a ton of extra weight. My guess is they didn’t make it to old age.
Do you see the problem?
When you embrace the self-defeating conclusion you can never lose weight and keep it off then you’ve embraced the possibility of a shorter life.
Be honest. Have you given up and possibly sentenced yourself to a shorter life? Yeah, me too.
Let’s have a candid discussion. Just you and me. Make a list of what the extra weight is doing to you.
- Do your knees ache?
- Do you not sleep as well?
- When you walk up steps or down the hall have you started puffing?
- Do you have energy to play with those grandkids?
- And let’s throw in the possibility you might die too soon.
Is all this a fair trade-off for a cookie, ice cream, and a McDonald’s hamburger? Nope. Part of my brain screams at the stupidity of the question. Of course this isn’t a good trade. Who would trade years of life for a buffet table. Gulp. I guess the answer is “me.” It’s the stupidest deal you can imagine.
So I’m declaring war on weight. Again. I’m rising up and going to do battle. And I don’t mean I’ll give it a good effort. Nope. I’m going into the battle with a fresh appreciation this is a battle of life and death. It is like a fairy tale where a boy goes off to kill a dragon carrying a little sword. Will he succeed? Maybe not. But he’s going to give it his all. He knows he must succeed or die trying.
That’s me. Here I go off to battle. The decades have come and gone. I’ve fought the dragon of weight and have lost.
But I’ve got one more fight in me. I’ve told people who struggle with destructive dragons the biggest sin is the sin of giving up. I’m not giving up.
So what about you? Have you given up? Time is running out. I’m extending an invitation for you to join me to go kill dragons. Two swords are better than one.
Any interest?