Get On Your Mark Get Set...DIET



When I started on the journey, no one noticed, but now no one can ignore

Wellness is not a Race, it's a Pilgrimage

If you are feeling a little more bloated than normal and are ready to take it all off while eating all of your favorite foods and having fun while you do it, you are not alone, nor is it all you. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… to the weight loss industry.

This is the time of year when all of the weight loss products and gizmos get pushed to the front of the store. Every add seems to be telling you that you’ve eaten too much when just last week we were all told to eat, drink and be merry.

There is more than enough research around to tell us that diets don’t work and that 95% of the folks who go on diets gain back not only the weight they lost, but an additional ten pounds as well. Still, we go back to the “lose-weight-now” plan because it worked before. If something truly works, it should work for good. But this is the true effectiveness of the marketing gurus, because when the products they push fail to work they have already programmed us to believe that we are to blame.

The diet industry is not alone in the Invasion of The Body Snatchers routine and in truth it’s your mind that’s been invaded. We allow others to tell us what to wear, whose lives and gossip to care about and how to spend our precious vacation time. We participate in events and activities we don’t even enjoy because someone said “You are having the time of our life.”

What would happen if you said “No.” What if you took the red pill instead of the blue? What if you are Neo and I’m Morpheus and …okay, you can tell I really like the message of the Matrix.

Slow and steady wins the race; it will not be done in 30 days. (Besides, the after photo takes about 90 days, then they sell you the 30 day program.)

Get well for life. Decide today that you will take this entire year to be well and then the rest of your life to maintain, fine tune and improve your entire self from the inside out.

Life is often likened to a race, and that’s fine, but it’s not a sprint, it’s not even a marathon it’s a pilgrimage. If you’ve ever met anyone who’s been on one, they will tell you how beautiful it was, how they learned so much about life and of all the amazing people they’ve met on the way.

As the young people used to say way back in the day, “Slow your roll,” your life is not a sprint. Don’t let other folks tell you how fast you need to buy their junk just so you can come back and by more again and again.

As I’ve slowed down these last few weeks to take the time each morning to write about total wellness, I have been rewarded with a perspective on life that is amazingly whole. I’ve re-connected with friends and family members in a most meaningful way. I’ve been gifted with stories of others that make me smile and keep me smiling. I’ve met new folks who add color to areas that had dulled and I have been able to match friend to friend.

Your wellness will never be about your body, ask all of the beautiful folks who have really been sick. They will tell you that illness impacts the body, but wellness is the whole self, the spirit, mind and body aligned as one.

Slow your roll because this is a pilgrimage not a race. Take in the view and be changed forever.

·         How many diet programs, exercise clothes and gizmos do you have from years before?

·         When you go into any store, make an observation of the diet products that are near the front door.

·         Observe the number of diet products featured on news programs, commercials and infomercials. Make a note of when they are played.

·         Re-set your own goals so they are more realistic and have long term impact.

·         BE WELL ALL YEAR

Life is not a race, it’s a pilgrimage.

Be Well

Bertice Berry, PhD

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