If You Want Change, You Must Focus On New Experiences…

I had an phone conversation with someone many moons ago who spent the entire conversation lamenting how she could not lose weight.  Science tells us that humans who consume the right amount of calories of the right types of food will eventually shed pounds.  It may take some longer than others, but the body will eventually respond.  And some people will have to adhere to a strict eating regimen as well.

This person spent the entire conversation telling me this simply is not true; her experience, as she stated, was that she had tried everything and nothing worked.  So I asked her if she ate vegetables….”no, I don’t eat vegetables.”   Then I asked if she consumed healthy fruits and nuts…”no, I don’t like nuts and I only eat apples.”  Next I asked her if she ate lean proteins…”I only like beef.”  Then during the rest of the conversation she revealed that she ate a lot of processed boxed “food”, fast food, pasta, ice cream, candy and many other junk-type foods; including sodas.

Keep in mind that she also explained to me that she believed she ate healthy and that she had tried everything to be healthier, but nothing worked.  But she wouldn’t eat veggies, fruits or lean proteins and ate tons of junk food.

She said many times she would love to lose some weight and be healthier, but then backed that statement up every time with “but I’m not willing to change XXX.”

Better results will never come from the same actions that produced bad results.

I don’t like fish, but I’m adding a lot of fish to my current eating regimen.  I don’t prefer spinach, but I’m adding it to my recipe book.  I don’t prefer salads, but I am adding green leafy plants to my eating habits.  Why?  Because if I don’t do something different then I will not experience change.

The truth about my friend is she didn’t really want to change.  People who make up their mind to change say something like “I know I need to change therefore I am willing to do whatever it takes to change.”   I have heard every excuse in the book and I simply refuse to listen to those types of people.

“I eat mostly healthy” usually means I don’t eat healthy at all.

Let me hop down off my soap box for a minute and get back to me.

Back in February I decided to get some weight off as I was getting a little pudgy.  Since then I’ve lost weight, especially around my waistline and I’ve done so by cutting out a lot of sugar and making better food choices.  Living with MS restricts my physical activities so it is imperative that I choose my foods wisely.  When I choose better quality foods my body burns fat.  When I choose low-quality foods my body stores fat.  And as the title of this post states I am committed to eating new things so that I get new results.  I simply cannot expect to get great results by committing to poor habits.

It is 100% about the choices I make.  If I really want to be healthier I’ll make better choices.  Period.

Danny