Are We Taught to be Overweight or Obese?

By Darrin Eaddy

Hi everybody this is Darrin Eaddy, your Starting Over Coach. Since it’s virtually impossible not to be, I am sure you are already aware of our battle with the majority of the American population being overweight or obese. This topic is being talked about every day either online, in the gym, or on TV. Most of the conversation has been focused on methods to achieve weight loss, overcome obesity, or manage your weight. That’s not my conversation. I want to talk about the mindset related to weight loss and battling obesity.

I have been in the fitness business for over 20 years. In that time I have seen thousands of people struggle with either getting the weight off or keeping it off. Most of my clients’ biggest struggles have been with how they see themselves losing weight. Some believed that exercise would be too hard, others felt the dietary options would be too boring or bland, still others thought that sacrificing the lifestyle they were use to was too much to ask in order to be successful.

Consider this; the actual words are never spoken, but the images and commercials we see every day on TV, in magazines, on billboards, online, etc. are deceptive. The images show a family or group of friends eating out, laughing, and having fun eating deep fried foods smothered in cheese. Someone that struggles with food is almost led to believe they can’t have that kind of fun unless they’re eating the foods they see in the commercial. Either they can’t eat at all, or they have to cheat on their eating program. See how imaging can distort your thinking on being successful?

Another example is supplementation. You’re told over and over again that you need this product or that product to be consistently successful at losing weight. So what if this or that magic supplement isn’t in your budget? Does that mean you can’t successfully lose weight or keep it off?

So now you have an idea of how we can be programmed to believe we can only fail at losing weight, and I haven’t even scratched the surface – but I will try my best to do so.