|
By: Kathryn ONeill
Wanna know the truth? If you're going to be slim, you're going to have to swim against the current. You're going to have to take charge of your body and make your own decisions..cause if you go with the flow today, I guarantee that you're going to be fat.
Here are 3 reasons why:
#1) Rampant Portion Sizes
'Supersize it', 'Biggie Fries', 'Value Meal', 'Super Big Gulp' - phrases that we use so commonly, it's hard to believe that we'd have to explain what they mean to someone from another era. Restaurants have blown their portion sizes so big in the name of providing 'value' that one meal could feed a small soccer team. Considering that your stomach is roughly the size of your fist (but thank goodness it stretches!), the portion sizes you get today in the average restaurant could probably fill 5 or more stomachs. But we're told to get our money's worth right? So go ahead and eat up. That way you can spend your money going to the doctor for obesity related health problems later. That's truly getting your money's worth! #2) Diet as Religion Diets boast a stellar 2-5% success rate (that's a 98% FAILURE rate by the way). And yet if an alien landed in North America, he (or she) would be convinced that our society must be built on the value of dieting. Billboards, magazines, books, television shows, ads, even restaurant menus..everywhere you look you're inundated with the latest diet, diet food or diet plan. Diets are touted as the ONLY solution to weight loss. We have more diets on the market now than ever before. We have more people on a diet now than ever before - and yet we continue to get fatter..is there ANY POSSIBLE connection here? #3) Escalator Generation Go with the flow and you'll enjoy a multitude of worldly conveniences. You can microwave your dinner in 5 minutes, load your dishwasher in 2 and pay the dog walker in 1. You don't have to walk to the store - just hop in the car. Your kids don't have to go swimming - they've got a new Xbox game. Don't bother taking the stairs because there's an elevator. You can sit at a desk for long hours without even getting up from your chair. And when you do come home from work - you have the luxury of flopping on the couch and watching 'Friends' while eating takeout. Go with the flow my friend and you'll expend less energy while eating more. Oh - and you'll also be told that taking a pill is the only way to shrink your ever-increasing waistline. One of the best photographs I ever saw was of the front of a gym. There was a staircase leading up to the gym with an escalator beside it. And you guessed it - people were taking the escalator UP to the gym! The only guy on the stairs was walking DOWN them. That pretty much sums up the problem.
Unfortunately, if you go with the flow in our world today, chances are very high that you're going to get fat. BUT by knowing what you're up against, you can take steps to go against the flow.
By taking a stand, taking charge and making positive choices for your body - you can live slim and healthy in a world skewed towards weight gain. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Kathryn O'Neill is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Specialist and holds a degree in Behavioral Psychology. She has authored several e-books that teach people how to lose weight for good with diets. |
