We (human beings) often think that life is complicated, but a lot of times it’s actually really simple. For example, we all know “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. Yet TONS of people don’t eat it. So then they get to work and within a few hours, they are “starving”. They have two options at that point, eat a snack (that’s probably not the healthiest) or wait until lunch when the hunger has turned into “I’m going to eat everything in sight”. The simple solution is to eat breakfast, but we don’t seem to like simple. Let’s think about weight loss. Most Americans have tried a diet at some point, even the skinny people, sometimes especially the skinny people. The concept of a diet is pretty simple, not only do most Americans over eat, but we also eat seriously unhealthy foods. We know this. Well, most of us know this. Does knowing change anything? No. People say dieting doesn’t work for them or that they can’t diet, but everyone has more power than they think, and that’s just a fact. Bottom line- losing weight is really very simple- calories in vs. calories out. If we take in more than we burn we gain weight. Some people are blessed and burn calories a lot more effortlessly, this is true. But everyone can know what their body needs to lose weight and what it needs to maintain simply by paying attention. Most doctors say to sedentary patients that simply walking 3 times a week for 20 minutes will make them lose weight, and this is true! If you already walk 3 times a week, you will likely have to do something more, but you get the general concepts here. Does that change anything for us? No. Now, in all of our defense, life is extremely busy, and we have a lot going on. It’s hard to put extra effort into what we are eating and to create time to exercise. Plus there’s emotions…we won’t go there. We have a similar problem with our minds, and this is our mind in the sense of body, brain, and connection. We don’t take care of it even though it’s somewhat simple. 1. We don’t like to exercise, which helps boost mood and ability to sleep well. 2. We don’t like to eat right, which also affects our energy levels and thereby our mood. 3. We don’t like to take medication, even though there’s a lot of science behind it, and it makes huge, life changing differences for people. 4. We don’t like to avoid vices (substances, over shopping, gambling, unsafe sex, etc) as they seem like a solution, despite us knowing that they have long term consequences. 5. We don’t like to take 10 mins a day to meditate, even though research shows over and over that it works and for a multitude of issues. 6. We don’t want to talk about our feelings and/or see a therapist, because that indicates that we are “crazy”. Since when is talking crazy?! This is where stuff gets complicated, because to others it would look like we DON’T want to feel better, but that is rarely a conscious thought for a person. Still we may want to let this stuff sink in and really consider what holds me back from feeling better? Where can I put in more effort? Am I really trying to help myself? Without personal responsibility, we get no where. I know it’s uncomfortable, but so is change. So just think about it.
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