Why most women who diet are doomed to fail
Most women have been on a diet at some point. Many are dieting now. The reasons range from ‘lifestyle change’ to downright self-hate, but generally stem from a competitive reaction to the tight-bodied younger models that swarm the summer pavements flashing smooth belly-flesh and tramp-stamps. I’m am glad the toned chicks oblige… it makes the world a prettier place. And even a swift glance at chick flicks and girly mags will tell you that women agree. Fat ain’t ever been all that. (Unless you’re a magical thinker )
Love fed fat soon turns to boredom . – Ovid (Roman Poet, 43BC)
Skinny ain’t sexy either, so there is a middle ground, and it involves tone and smooth curves. In a word: sleekness. While a man can drive a Hummer or toddle about in a Prius, give him Bill Gates’ money and he’ll be down at the showroom test-driving a European coupe the next day. The colours may change with taste, and the interior may be bespoke, but the chassis will be supremely aerodynamic.
Luckily for fat chicks, few guys have Gates’ money, so will watch as their once pristine ride deteriorates before their resigned eyes. At some point, the plump love of their life will tearily announce that ‘they have had enough’, ‘they hate their body’, ‘they are going to lose weight’ and insist that ‘this time they mean it’.
Now, assuming that she has a man who isn’t insecure enough to be scared by her desire to become prettier, he’ll support her goal – while ensuring that he mutters the obligatory: ‘i love you just the way you are ‘ with his pinky toes crossed tighter than he hopes her body will eventually be.
If she is super-dumb, she will accept his platitude and shrug off her goals as unnecessary. If she is kinda-dumb, she’ll open up her nearest girly mag and adopt the latest fad diet. And if she is merely dumb, she’ll interpret the widely given advice of ‘eat less and exercising more’ as an indication that she should cut down her food intake drastically – resulting in self-imposed starvation and moaning.
If however, her insightful female brain is in gear, she will realise that she should flip the mantra into: ‘exercise more and eat less’. The key to the body she and her tireless man desire resides in the ‘exercise more’ part. (People tend to underestimate how much they eat .)
It’s not about weight, it’s about fitness, and one component of being fit is to have relatively low body fat, because fat is not very efficient, whereas muscle is. - Deborah Bull (Dancer & Writer)
The difference between saying ‘i want to lose weight ‘ and ‘i want to become fitter ‘ is the difference between saying ‘i want to reduce my debts ‘ and ‘i want to become richer ‘. The latter – properly approached – will take care of the former, continuously. But the former forgets to take into account the inflation (pun intended) that will ultimately erode progress. It takes time to lose weight, and takes time to reduce debts, but without a countervailing ambition of advancement, it is the equivalent of walking at 4mph on a 5mph treadmill – at some point the losses can become insurmountable . To lose weight – as to become richer – she must break sweat and make it a habit. Diet for life!
By picking up the pace, she can then afford herself the opportunity to sustainably accommodate the guaranteed fluctuations of life and circumstance. Otherwise, the treadmill of aging will continue to swallow up the gains made by unsustainable fad diets. Avoiding that pitfall will result in her friends saying: "She eats what she wants, but she doesn’t put on a pound. I don’t know how she does it".
And for the guys reading this, nodding your heads, explain the idea to her (let us know how you get on!). Then read the article again, with the understanding that the same concept applies to your ambitions of wealth or power (or weight-loss). Shave your budget and shortcomings by all means, but to progress it is essential to focus on maximising your opportunities and building upon your talents. Doing so will keep you ahead of the relentless treadmill, feeding back into that reinforcing loop that others will call ‘luck ‘, saying: "He doesn’t look like he’s trying that hard, but he’s so effective. I don’t know how he does it."
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