Being Worth The Effort

I'm always surprised when I hear about the things people will do to achieve weight loss quickly. Some measures are downright dangerous (fen-phen) and others are just ridiculous (using vibration to tone abs).

Recently, while I was listening to the Dave Ramsey show, someone was asking about whether it would be wise for his mother to borrow against her 401K to pay for bypass surgery. Of course it isn't wise to borrow at 40% for just about anything, but it got me thinking about what people will do in order to avoid making the effort to achieve something.

This past fall and winter I was saving a little bit of money from each of my paychecks in order to buy a new bike for the spring. When I finally had enough money, I went to the store to buy the bike. I can't tell you how much satisfaction it gave me to work hard and save up. I bet that I wouldn't have nearly that much happiness if someone had just given me $550 to buy a new bike.

The best things that we get in life aren't those that come easily for us. It's the struggle we look back on that makes us realize just how far we've come. I would tell anyone looking for that magic bullet to lose weight that they will receive so much satisfaction from working on getting healthy rather than taking drastic measures.

I understand that some people have medical conditions which prevent them from losing weight on their own. And of course, in those cases I would encourage them to talk with their doctor. But figure out what other changes you might be able to make in your life that you can look back on and really be proud of yourself.