Magic Bullets

There are no magic bullets. I'm sorry to have to say this, but it is a hard-won conclusion I have come to after trying many one-stop remedies. There is no solution that is going to work for everyone. In spite of the mighty infomercial industry saying otherwise, there is no one thing that will allow people to 'set it and forget it' and solve all their problems. What there is, and what we can all take advantage of, are the plethora of options out there that work for some people. So looking at this same pool of potential magic bullets, there is every likelihood that one of those solutions will work for us. And there's every likelihood that it will not be the same as the one that works for the person to our immediate left or our immediate right. I'd love to know the statistics that aren't shared by these infomercial powerhouses because I think there's a lot of value there. Not in knowing how many instances in which the solutions have failed, per se, but in knowing how many people simply need other options. These things don't work because they are structured approaches to a particular part of the problem. Weight, in many cases. Organization skills and time management. Financial independence. You can look at any given goal, and chances are there's a program out there that will help you get there. And that's GREAT! Because, as an individual who is looking to create their own system, having such a plethora of plans available means you've got lots of different things you can try. Lots of things that will spark ideas, and lots of aspects of those plans that will work for you. But the important thing to also note, with some of these plans, is that they are designed to work a particular way. You can't always have it your way. If you can't follow all the aspects of the plan and NOT deviate, you will NOT be successful. Let's consider the keto diet. A great diet for those who know that carbs are the problem. Because, let's face it, for most of us this is the case. We love carbs. But carbs, we're told, are the enemy. If you want to be able to lose weight, you need to watch the carbs you're eating. You can exploit this (positively, in this case) by increasing your intake of healthy fats and minimizing carbohydrate intake. Now, is this going to work for everyone? For everyone who has the willpower to follow this plan, yes. It is a very effective approach, and it works. But it doesn't work when individuals slip up and have carbs. If you aren't capable of unconditionally abiding by the carb-cutting rule, you're only going to be compounding the issue. Because the principle of this diet is ketosis. It is a system based on your body being in a certain state, and an intake of carbs wrecks this state. So what about Whole 30? Another great plan that will work for some people but not others. What about a vegan diet? A paleo diet? The Warrior diet? Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? All good approaches. All built on a foundation that has been proven to work for some. But not all. But how do we figure out what works for us? Is it as simple as trial and error, and trying all these different things to figure out what works? Let me use a person I know as an example. This person has gone from diet to diet and has had success in every case a new diet has been tried. For the first few weeks. Then there comes the realization that this isn't going to work long term. Because it is a diet - a temporary change to one's lifestyle (because eating is part of our lifestyles) and it isn't sustainable. But then there's that book out there that tells us exactly that - that it is important not to diet, but to think if things as a lifestyle change. And simply because we've magically relabeled a specific diet as a lifestyle change and told the participants that they simply have to do this FOREVER, it is going to change the success rate? Holy shit... I didn't realize it was just THAT EASY! Guess who the person I know is in the example I've used above? Me. I've tried all of that, and I've come to the conclusion that none of it works. Because they're all just potential magic bullets. Solutions that I'm seeking out because I'm sure that one soul mate is out there waiting for me. We all have our soul mates, right? Or we hope we do, at least. We're all seeking out that one person who we're going to be 100% compatible with. The one who gets us. And we're all searching for that same 'diet' soul mate. How many of us go our whole lives without finding that soul mate? It doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way, because we don't need to have a soul mate when it comes to diet. What we need to do instead is look at diet as a part of the larger system. What are your end goals? What do you want to achieve? Will it take a specific diet to get there? Perhaps. But what other factors are contributing to the problem? Why are we binge eating? Why are we inactive? Tired? Unmotivated? Could it be that we're looking at a potential solution from a diet perspective, but the problem is actually the amount of sleep we don't get every night? A sedentary lifestyle? I see situations in which people are creating cycles for themselves that are simply exploiting the problem and leaving no room for a solution. The person who is morbidly obese to the point where he or she is unable to move and exercise without extreme discomfort. There has to be a way to break out of this cycle. But it isn't as simple as changing a diet. It has to come from a larger evaluation of the system. Until we know where we want to go, we're just taking a shot in the dark as to how we're going to get there. I want to be thinner. But I also need to have goals for things I'm going to do WHEN I get thinner. See what I mean? I'm not just looking at eating less and getting skinny. It is a stop on the road I'm on, but it isn't the destination. Skinny is not the goal. HEALTHY is the goal. And for us to be healthy, we have reached the point as a society where thin is equivalent to healthy. I've seen plenty of skinny people that don't live good lifestyles, are malnourished, overworked, under-rested, and will probably die early deaths because they don't take care of themselves. I've seen overweight people who are highly productive, are actually able to get out and do things, and are in most respects are healthy individuals who will likely live longer than some of those skinny people. So it isn't about being thin. Body size might be part of it, but it is about lifestyle. I want to be a better person. I want to have more time to do the things I want to do. I want to have more time to relax and enjoy life. We only get one life. This is not a practice life where we're able to spend all our time screwing around and figuring out what NOT to do... but that's actually an important part of it. We need to be free to make mistakes. We need to be able to experiment and figure out what doesn't work for us because that brings us one step closer to figuring out what DOES work for us. So it's ok that those magic bullets are out there. Consider them to be stepping stones. Learn from them. Try them and see if they work. But also realize that those things will only address part of the problem. You need to be looking at things from a higher level. Who do you want to be? If skinny is the answer you're coming up with, that's the wrong answer. Skinny will just be what you look like. But what will you be doing? How will you be living your life? These are the questions that will really make a difference in creating those lifestyle changes.