Fast Foods vs. Healthy Foods Are We Products of a “Quick and Easy” Environment?

Hi People, it is Darrin your Starting Over Coach with “food for thought” moment. 

Trainers spend a lot of time educating clients on why they should eat certain foods, why it is important to eat so many times per day, and why it is important to stay hydrated.  Time after time, clients will disregard what we teach them to look for a shortcut to losing weight, believing they can find an easier way to succeed.  It is completely understandable to want things to happen quickly, but we all know “quick and easy” never lasts when it comes to the body.  What you’re trying to repair didn’t happen overnight, how can you expect to undo it overnight?

So, how do we overcome the obsession with “quick and easy” ways to weight loss success?  Concentrate on our environment.  What do I mean by our “environment”?  We have moved away from the traditional American culture of working hard for what we want, and immersed ourselves in the newer idea of shortcuts being the answer to everything.  We require our phones to be high speed computers, businesses must provide us the services we want yesterday, the fast food drive thru is a “quick and easy” answer, and even the food prepared at home must be microwavable and done in 5 minutes or less.

“Quick and easy” is how we prefer to live our lives, but, does it work for losing weight and getting in shape?  The weight loss industry would like you to think so.  Consider all the quickie weight loss plans and miracle pills that are available.  It is easy to fall into this trap because society tells us “quick and easy” is better.  Not so.  

Here are some basic fitness tips:

1.      When you lose body fat too fast, your body thinks something is wrong, so it does everything it can to gain it back.

2.      Your body responds to rhythm; therefore, if each day you have a different calorie count, your body will have a harder time responding.

(clarify – Is it a good or bad thing to change the caloric intake?  Why? 

I thought you said if you change it up, your body has to work harder, so that was a good thing)

3.      Your body can utilize healthy food from a grocery store better than processed junk food from a fast food restaurant.  Your body is a natural machine.  It knows what to do with natural food.  Artificial dyes, fillers, and preservatives confuse the natural process, so the only things the body can do is move it around through your system where it wreaks havoc, or store it away (on  your waistline) until it figures out what to do with it. 

When you try to take the “quick and easy” route, at some point you’ll end up back where you started, and reaching your goal ends up being more work in the long run.  So why not take the time to do it right the first time and learn what is needed to lose weight and get in shape for life?