Posted on March 25, 2020 by dragonspitapothecary
I’ve heard the old adages if it were easy everyone would be doing it and if it were easy then we wouldn’t be grateful for it. Who made these up anyway? Are these adages really true? If someone gives us something we are struggling to earn and achieve are we really less appreciative of it? Would everyone really do it? Does it apply to losing weight?
What if losing weight were as easy as taking your vitamins, exercising and eating right? Would we all magically do these things and experience wonderful weight loss? Would we be less appreciative of it because we took the easy way of achieving it? Is it as easy as these three things and we’re just over-complicating matters with what diet is right and how much exercise you should do? For me personally on this 2020 Wellness Challenge journey I would love a break for something to be “easy.” Who wouldn’t rather need to work out 15 minutes rather than 30 for the same results? I seriously would love to just eat right and take vitamins to realize results! How wonderful that would be and I think I would be highly grateful if that was all there was to it. The sad truth is it’s not all but I don’t believe it has to be that hard either.
Everything involving weight loss and improving health are some of the hardest challenges we can take on! Our lives literally count on our health being the best it can be for as long as possible and yet we have obesity and poor health epidemics rampant in our country! Eating well is not easy given how broken and toxic our food system is with all the chemicals, preservatives, and unpronounceable ingredients they contain. Taking vitamins is also a scary proposition when you look at the aisles and aisles of product offerings also containing fake coloring and questionable ingredients in them. So how can I possibly claim it can be easy? If it’s so easy why aren’t more doing it too?
The bottom line is if we truly want to improve our health we have to cut the noise around how that is achieved and look inside ourselves. We have all that we need to be achieve our health goals, lose weight and improve our health. It doesn’t take thousands of dollars either. The simple fact is nature can help us achieve these results and it’s simple, healthy and you get results! We have seriously over complicated things with complex diets that leave us hungry and miserable, un-achievable workouts we are not yet able to successfully or gracefully do and vitamins that are filling our bodies with ingredients we can’t use to heal and support us. When we remove all of that and return to the simplest at the core root cause answer it is nature
As I worked to break up with sugar and detox from those effects beginning this year as part of my 2020 Wellness Challenge it wasn’t always easy. At times I felt irritable, stressed, had cravings I didn’t think I could conquer! Chocolate, sweets and desserts were all I could think about at times and yet I was also hearing in my mind and body to abstain. When I slowed down and looked at those cravings I realized it was my body and mind realizing that sugar was leaving my body but it thought it was missing something. In reality it wasn’t missing anything and was healing from the effects of me putting sugar and carbs and stuff that isn’t healthy in my body. Rather than cave in and put myself back in the situation of feeling sluggish and shaky from sugar overload I realized I felt so much better sugar free! When I felt better it gave me the natural motivation and energy to build on that and do more of what was making me feel good. My body already knew it didn’t need that sugar or chocolate and was responding positive to it being gone.
I think the problem that we are really describing when we say a wellness goal is hard or easy is really about our own ability to align in body, mind and spirit. If we are aligned then we are best positioned to make choices that are healthier for us. When we are only focused on our cravings, loneliness, stress or some other component of our life as an individual thing we are more likely to give in to temptation. It’s much akin to a pack of geese who fly best in a V shaped formation for optimal aero-dynamics and speed. When just one of those geese deviates from that formation the effects are felt flock wide. As I have grown through this experience of focusing on my health as a whole person (body, mind and spirit) that has changed how I approach improving my health. I’m able to optimize efficiencies and improve results when I think in terms of what my entire being needs and not just my body.
So is losing weight easy? Some days yes. It’s still work and it takes intentionally working on it daily but some days are easy. The number of easy days increase the more I grow in this journey too. The more I focus on alignment to my whole being and what those needs are cravings are less powerful. My focus is more alert to the goal and my motivation is more consistent. I feel in control versus at the mercy of an eating plan or exercise routine making the decisions for me. I can apply a simple approach that works for my lifestyle and interests versus one pre-packaged and one size fitting most. I am accountable to the goal I have set and able to move as a whole person in the activities that will result in progress.
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