There is no magic pill to lose weight

Slimming down is on many people’s minds. But as I’ve come to learn for myself, there are no shortcuts to melting away fat. Avoid any magic potion that promises to do that!

Many of us remember watching Aladdin as children as he and Jasmine ride on that magic carpet to discover a whole new world. The movie industry has benefited tremendously from capitalising on our love for watching dreams come true and underdogs climbing from rags to riches. It touches that special place in our hearts that desperately wants to believe that miracles do happen.

It’s that same desperation we dieters have as we seek that magic pill. That pill that promises to take away your appetite so your scale keeps going down. Or the pill that promises the sun and the moon without you having to do anything to earn it.

The only place for a magic carpet is on the cinema screen and is purely for entertainment. Let’s stop fooling ourselves into believing we can manage our weight on a magic carpet while sweeping the real issues under the rug!

No to shortcuts

We may see some results from popping a pill or drinking a mystery solution, but trust me, researchers will discover that very pill causes cancer or kidney failure a few years down the road. We’ll find ourselves stranded at the side of the road that we thought would be our salvation.

Freedom from overeating isn’t free. Like anything else in life that is worth fighting for, it takes courage and hard work to accomplish lasting goals. It also means we have to be willing to give up some things and I’m not just referring to food. Food is the tip of the iceberg. Underneath lie a million other reasons we have resorted to feeding this addiction. Until we deal with underlying cause, we cannot even begin to heal from overeating.

Slowing down

This month, let’s mindfully and objectively slow down enough to think hard about what we want to accomplish and what small steps we can take to keep us motivated. Do you remember the tortoise and the hare story when we were kids? The hare took a snooze only to lose at the end of the race because as slow as that turtle was, it refused to give up.

We are that turtle. Slow and steady is what it takes, the opposite of what the marketing world advertises as they push one product after another with promises to help us with our weight issues FAST. The only fast thing they may accomplish is quickly depleting our bank accounts as they make money off of our desperation.

I will be honest with you and tell you that I threw out leftover pills just approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to decrease appetite for the sake of weight loss. It took facing the truth head-on to love my body enough to protect it from something that could potentially prove harmful.

If you are popping those magic pills, you’ll be surprised at how empowering it is to throw them out before you find you’ve thrown your health to businesses that line their pockets with profit.

Here’s to staying healthy the good old-fashioned way and plugging along without stopping, like that turtle!

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine