Getting Past What Holds You Back with Baby Boomer Weight Loss Expert Scott 'Q' Marcus
Image ©2009 Scott “Q” Marcus
Give room for others for to do the same with theirs.
We are all going in the same direction. However, we might take different paths.
Especially during this time of year, take time to understand other cultures and beliefs. It will enrich your own life and give you greater understanding.
Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Ramadan Mubarak. Happy Kwanzaa. Peace.
You might think I’m a little old to be crawling up on your lap; and after a bulging feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, and uncountable red and green cookies, you probably don’t want me weighing down your knee for too long. However, my inner child never grew up; he simply became wrinkled; so I still like some gift requests I have not had answered. I figure, who better than you to help?
I promise I won’t take too much time; I understand you’re busy and have a few things on your mind. If you prefer, I can email or text my list to your phone; I’m all about the convenience.
It is way wrong that when I’m upset, everything I desire causes a weight gain. I get stressed so I eat something comforting. I get fatter — and that stresses me out even more. What’s that about? How fair is that? If you can’t deliver non-fattening comfort foods, I’ll consider the option of modified lettuce that tastes like chocolate. Just a thought…
When I look in the mirror, I want a flat profile looking back; one that doesn’t require me sucking in my stomach so deep my voice jumps two octaves. I know, I know; fifty-somethings don’t look like 18-year-olds; don’t bore me with logic. But in all fairness, I never had the flat, rock hard look as a teenager either, so I’d appreciate seeing what it feels like to have six-pack abs without having to forego the six packs — if you catch my drift. Please don’t misunderstand; don’t give me a gym membership or sit-up machine; those involve exertion, and who in their right mind wants to wake up Christmas morning to a present requiring sweating and groaning? Yick! I just want to go to sleep chubby, and wake up slim. You figure out how please.
When I was seven years old, in 1962, my parents moved to California. (It seemed appropriate for me to go with them.)
Recently, I was speaking in the Great Lake State and had a few spare days, and the assistance of my cousin Steve, who still lives there; so I wanted to revisit my first elementary school and the last house I remember from early childhood. We clambered into his green panel van and headed to Livonia, a suburb.
While Steve slowly drove by Botsford Elementary, giving me plenty of viewing time to prompt old memories, the staff began studying us through the school’s windows. Realizing this was no longer 50 years ago; it dawned on me that two middle-aged men driving sluggishly around an elementary school in a panel van could be misinterpreted.
We moved on.
Of course, any vehicle listlessly rolling down a street with its residents studying every house will attract attention anywhere; so as we passed “my” house, the resident studied us from his front porch. Not desirous of another misinterpretation, I approached the young man and reached out to shake his hand.
“Hi, my name’s Scott. I lived here from 1958 through 1962. I’m visiting from California and I wanted to see where I was little. Would it be okay if I looked around?”
“Wow! I wasn’t even born then! Sure. Feel free.”
Emboldened, I took it another step.
“Would it be too much to ask if I could go inside?”
“I’m a trusting guy,” he replied, “Come in.”
By guest author Josh Landson
Many people have equated human nature with human condition and use this connection to justify delaying or outright avoiding difficult decisions. The fact of the matter is that the phrases are very different from one another. Human nature refers to the instincts that we have: the ways in which we act and think without the influence of our upbringing and culture. The human condition is the opposite of human nature: it is a combination of the social, personal, and cultural aspects of our being. The human condition is extremely important in our lives because it allows us to rise above our nature.
When a person says that human nature is the reason they cannot make a decision in their lives, they should be challenging themselves to overcome their biological design. In many cases, a person resigns themselves to their fate, stating that ‘whatever happens, happens.’ However, the reason that human beings have achieved so much in our short history and triumphed above all other organisms is that we strive beyond what is expected of us and do what seems impossible. For many people, settling for whatever happens is a defense mechanism. If you do not make a decision, you do not have to be responsible for the repercussions.
It requires a complete change in the way you think. If you are avoiding change and denying decision making, you have to realize that your action is in itself a decision! The decision you are making is not to act. Thus the consequences are your responsibility just the same as if you had acted.
Most of the time, people do not trust themselves over a decision. They think they aren’t good enough, smart enough, strong enough, and so on. This insecurity plagues every individual and it takes a lot of mental courage to overcome it. However, our human condition tells us that we are capable of achieving great things. If you are going to make a monumental decision, take a minute to do a mental exercise: take all of your presuppositions about your weakness to be true, and picture what the worst outcome would be. Now think about how you can rebuild from that outcome. You will find soon enough that your human condition allows you to work out any problem if you apply enough effort and determination.
Lastly, if you are still hesitant about making a change in your life, think about the historical precedents we have. Think about what would have happened if Martin Luther King Jr. was too afraid to make a stand for civil rights, or if Gandhi didn’t fight for the poor, or if no one stood up to the likes of Hitler. There have been many life changing events in history that wouldn’t have occurred without some very brave people. And you have the exact same human nature as them! Avoiding and delaying decision making will lead to a lot of mental turmoil and self-doubt. Although you may be uncertain about a change in your life, if you do not venture down that path it is something you’re likely to regret for a long time.
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First factoid: Supposedly (I say “supposedly” as I’m not sure of its veracity), the average overweight American needs to shed 38 pounds to level the scales at his correct weight. Obviously, some must lose more, and some less. Yet, should one take the collective poundage our citizenry must remove to be healthy, and divide it by the number of citizens who must drop those pounds; the resulting number would be just shy of 40.
Factoid two: That same “average American,” upon deciding to rid himself of the above mentioned 38 pounds, usually quits prior to 16 weeks; a shade less than four months.
The final datum is that — despite pie-in-the-sky claims made by “miracle weight loss cures” falsely proclaiming one can drop five to ten pounds a week — an “average” healthy, sustainable (two important distinctions) weight loss is between one-half and two pounds per week. Let’s split the difference down the middle and declare that number to be one and a quarter pounds every seven days.
If the “average person” desirous of losing the “average amount of weight” sheds the “average amount per week” and quits in the “average number of weeks,” he will be approximately half way to his goal when he throws in the towel. (Sixteen weeks multiplied by 1.25 pounds per week = 20 pounds; just the other side of the midway point of 38.)
This prompts a quasi-philosophical question: Is one a “success” or “failure” if she drops 20 pounds, when in actuality, her goal is 38? It’s one of those “half-empty, half-full” scenarios.