Strategies for Heart Healthy Living
Diet Without the Intention of Losing Weight.
Of course, within every intention to diet, one’s real purpose should always be towards adopting a healthier lifestyle. But it sure doesn’t hurt to know that you are losing weight at the same time, and looking fabulous in some of your designer clothes.
We swear off the carbs, fast the night away, and drench our bodies in sweat as we suffer through that 13-minute extreme HIIT workout video.
And sometimes we may lose the weight, but nearly always gain it back again. And with every cycle, the effort becomes harder and the experience more dreadful.
And yet we persist in this agonizing cycle of “weight management.” We can’t seem to understand that resorting to the same tactic every time, and expecting a different result, is only a fool’s game.
When dieting is aimed at weight loss, its driving force stems from an anticipated result. Naturally, when that result lags with what was anticipated, the driving force begins to lag as well. If we institute a change in our eating habits with the hope of losing 5 pounds, then once it’s apparent that the weight loss is not following suit, it becomes an uphill journey that often ends in failure.
If instead, the change in behavior is predicated on the virtue within that action, and remains independent of any anticipated result, then regardless of outcome the driving force to continue the change remains — so long as the virtue within the action remains perceived.
Are you with me?
A great illustration of this concept is the gesture of kindness. Implicit in being kind is the notion that we do it for the sheer sake of the virtue within the gesture and not for any kind of anticipated result. And as one can plainly see, kindness is done with great success. The same should apply to changes in our diet and, for that matter, any change we make in our daily lifestyle.
Once when I went for dinner with my wife, I threw all caution to the wind and gave in to a sumptuous and very greasy dinner option.
When the waiter came by and asked regarding dessert, I naturally said sure! If I had already “broken my diet” for the evening, then what difference would it make if I cheated a bit more and had the double chocolate cake. My lovely wife looked at me, then at the waiter (who wasted no time in realizing that dessert was totally out of the question), and she reminded me that skipping dessert was all about doing the right thing and had nothing to do with whether or not it would make a difference on the scale the next morning.
And that’s the point! Start your diet today just by engaging in a heart healthy lifestyle.
Do it for virtue!
Do it for the kindness you owe yourself!
