Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a spending spree? It might go for a day, a week, or even longer. In the early stages of over-spending, it seems like a lot of fun and you get lulled into thinking you can continue this course. Over time, over-spending leads to debt and stress, and often a feeling that there’s no way out. Taking responsibility is the only way.
Similarly, in the early stages of making your own food and exercise choices, too much fun and too little discipline have no obvious consequences. Over time, these same choices might still be fun but looking in the mirror is not. Health conditions appear, dissatisfaction increases, and the feeling of hopelessness can be present.
The pathway out of financial debt starts with the sage advice: Stop spending. The pathway out of poor health and weight is less clear: we can’t just stop eating, after all.
The bottom line for both conditions is that we need to take personal responsibility, both for how we got there and also how we’re going to fix it.
We can’t blame anyone else for our over-spending. There may well be reasons and excuses and unavoidable circumstances, but it’s mostly our own fault. Perhaps the same applies to our health and weight?
It is absolutely not fair that some people can eat whatever they like and sloth around with no (apparent) adverse consequences. If this is not you, then you need to make different choices. Our bodies are all different. We have different needs, and different responses to the specific food and drink and exercise choices we make.
We know that some people can stay in the sun for only minutes until they burn while others can stay for much longer: there’s not much that can be done except the change behaviour. The same applies to food and exercise.
If you’d like to change your body, it’s clearly not going to happen without changes to behaviour and choices. Logic tells you that, but knowing that you need to make change does not always make it easy. Too many people find reasons for their problems and think that they can’t do anything to change their circumstances.
Stop blaming things. Sure, you might have slow metabolism, underactive thyroid, menopause symptoms, gut dysbiosis, bad genetics, or whatever. They all have the potential to make it harder and/or slower, but regaining your health and a weight you’re happy with is worth the effort. It won’t happen with the next “miracle diet” in a magazine, but with a healthy long-term approach, you can stop accepting your reasons (excuses?), and start on the journey to better health and weight.
Ultimately, take responsibility for the outcomes you want.