The Road to Wellness:
Oh, the road to wellness! It's certainly paved ...: Oh, the road to wellness! It's certainly paved with good intentions...... prayers, begging, pleading and a whole host of curse wo...
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Oh, the road to wellness! It's certainly paved with good intentions...... prayers, begging, pleading and a whole host of curse words to boot! This time of year everyone has adopted some new form of trying to be healthy. The diet industry commercials and magazine articles are promising all kinds of success with their product or plan. They fail to mention one tiny fact.... 95% of diets fail. Diets fail without fail. Why? Because they are designed that way. Basically, we are doomed before we even get started. The diet industry is a 20 billion dollar hot spot and they will sell you anything and everything to keep it that way.
Let's start with attitude. Just last week I saw loads of people running down the street yelling with complete and utter joy, "YAY! I'M ON A DIET!!!!" Okay, not really. Have you ever heard anyone be excited to be on a diet? Not me. I have heard this, "I can't go to lunch today. I started a new diet. I'm having celery sticks and rice cakes." or "Girl, I'm so hungry right now I could eat the back end out of a goat!" I'm not even making those up. They are actually true stories. I never use the word "diet" with my clients because it carries the same connotation as many other four letter words. It pulls people down and makes them feel like a failure before they even get started. My experience with diets and with those who have been on various types of diets is the exact same. We start our plan, maybe with a bit of excitement to try something new. Then, after a couple of days or so, we are starving and constantly thinking about food. Our brains play a game with us, "So, you are not going to feed me, huh? Well, how about all of the thoughts about FOOD then!!" Even things we would never consider eating suddenly sound divine. We are tired and it feels like our bodies are running on fumes. Truthfully, that is exactly what is happening. Your body is running on fumes from the lack of fuel. I don't about you, but when I get hungry, I get grumpy! Now we have a case of starvation, exhaustion and grumpiness and that's when it happens. We quit. It's too hard and it's no fun! Guess what? It isn't your fault! Your body is being deprived of certain foods and macronutrients, such as carbohydrates and fat, so you stress out, binge eat, and/or quit. Sound familiar? It's a vicious, vicious cycle. The worst part of all is how we feel about ourselves afterwards. That negative voice of ours suddenly finds new chords and starts to speak very loudly to us, calling us failures and shaming us for not being able to follow through. Eventually, we move on until the next time we get a harebrained idea to try that again.....and so the cycle continues. Did you get the part where I said the diet industry is a 20 billion dollar hot spot? You get that now, right?
Are you ready for this? IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY! I'm here to tell you the good news. The road to wellness, the TRUE road to wellness is easy, doable and it's actually fun! There is no starvation, plenty of energy and you can starve out the grumps too. It's also sustainable, meaning, once you adopt this way of living, you'll never diet again because you won't need to. Here is the secret. The road to wellness begins with education. First, you have to know your body. What foods does your body love and tolerate and which foods does it hate and not. That is key. It's not a "one size fits all" kind of deal. Second, you have to educate yourself about food. You have to read labels. Do NOT depend on magazines and television to educate you as they are in the business to make money not educate you on the nutrients (or lack of) of the food. Those two things will totally change your mind about dieting forever. Second, (and you'll love this one!) you have to eat food. Food is fuel. That is how your body runs. It's no different than your car. You'd never think of putting a tiny amount of gasoline in your car and saying, "that is all you get for today so make the best of it." Your car would do just what your body does without fuel, it would shut down. Food is energy and when you start to think of it that way it will totally change your focus on being healthy. Lastly, you have to be gentle with yourself and have patience while you are learning and making these changes. Not everything will work perfectly the first time. It takes practice in knowing how to listen
The truth is, diets are temporary and not sustainable. Choosing the true road to wellness is permanent and sustainable. It's a total lifestyle change - not a quick fix. Imagine this time next year when everyone is making resolutions to be healthy that you don't need to even go there. You will already be healthy because you have chosen the true road to wellness. You can spend your time doing the things you love to do, loving who you are, and enjoying your life!
Ditch the diet and choose the true road to wellness.
Happy Trails,
Debbie
For more info on how I can help you on your journey to wellness, please visit me @ www.encompassinglife.com or call 804.577.0152
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