So often…
No.
Too often…
… you and I approach the start of a commitment to “get more fit” or “get in shape” with the wrong mindset.
We look for the magic potion, the secret formula, the quick fix.
We speak in platitudes. We talk about toning flabby arms and running an eight-minute mile.
We hear that – after all these years – the real reason nobody is losing weight… the real reason we have an obesity epidemic… is because we didn’t have the right weight-loss pill. But now, this awesome new pill, not available to the public until 2012, has come to rescue all of us! And now that it’s available with one simple phone call, all you have to do is pop the pill, wait for it to expand in your stomach, eat next to nothing, and you’ll feel full and satisfied. Weight and fat will fall off your body when this expanding pill fills your tummy, you’ll lose all the weight you want, and life will be blissful.
Who would have ever thought weight loss was this easy?
I’m not naming names, but there are at least four such “remedies” available today, if you want to waste your money.
Have you ever considered how preposterous weight-control and weight-loss advertising claims are? Yet how many times have you wanted to try one, hoping against hope that this might be the one that actually works?
Why?
Because we crave the quick fix.
You and I grew up in the television age. The age of 30-minute sitcoms. Dramas and mysteries that were resolved in 60 minutes. Results need to be immediate. We became a microwave society. We have no time to be patient. Our food needs to be done sooner rather than later.
Advertisers took advantage. The snake oil salesmen of yesterday became the weight-loss pill pushers of today. “Lose 20 pounds in a week! If your weight loss results are too dramatic, cut back to one pill per day.”
Right.
How many people do you think are going to do that? Faster is better! People hear that they can accelerate their weight loss results and they’ll take more pills, not fewer!
What a shrewd way to sell more “snake oil?”
As we careen toward a new year, will you feel compelled to make yet another health and fitness resolution? Will you opt for permanent, healthy change or yet another quick fix?
Which one do you think will make a difference in your life?