Tricks and No Treats

When it comes to "magic" weight loss, the news is filled with tricks and definitely NO treats.  I remember reading a couple of news articles several months ago that caught my attention and neither was good news for anyone looking for an easy answer to losing weight. The first article was alarming, actually.  Apparently there are a number of patients of a California plastic surgeon who elected to have a patch surgically applied to their tongue.  The purpose, according to the physician, was to "make chewing solid foods very difficult and painful, limiting the patient to a liquid diet."  I read that and thought, "you have GOT to be kidding me" . . . except I knew it wasn't a joke.  The article included concerns from other physicians about the risk of infection and other potential complications from this procedure.  Apparently the tongue patch was intended to be kept in place for only 30 days before being removed, but this is certainly not a wise approach, even on a short-term basis. The other article announced that federal health regulators had decided not to approve yet another experimental diet pill which had been touted by some experts as the most promising weight-loss drug in over a decade.  The FDA has asked for more study results and additional information on the drug's possible health risks, including major cardiovascular events and risks for women of childbearing age.  The article went on to say that research continues in an effort to find an answer to America's obesity crisis. In my humble opinion, the answer to America's obesity crisis will never be found in a surgical procedure, any surgical procedure, and it won't be found in a pill, either.  These are all attempts to treat the symptoms and don't address the cause. I'm not a psychologist and I'm not trying to paint everyone with the same brush, but I know that I didn't double my weight between my early 30's and my early/mid 50's because I was (am) a good cook and enjoy food.  I spent a lot of time in denial to be sure, but even in my denial I understood that I was doing a lot of emotional eating.  No surgery and no drug could fix that . . . It wasn't until I started on this program that I finally began the work of addressing my emotional eating issues.  What prompted me to do that were two things:  first of all, I couldn't justify the cost of doing this program unless I was actually DOING the program.  I knew it would only be cost-neutral if I was staying on plan.  Secondly, when the weight started coming off, I was afraid to mess up what was finally clearly working and working well, so I was motivated to stay on plan.  Both of these compelling reasons to stay on plan forced me to begin to deal with the stuff of life without running to food to stuff my feelings.  At the time I made the decision to stay on plan, I certainly didn't think about the emotional ramifications of that decision, but learning how to deal with stress, boredom, etc. without running to chocolate (my drug of choice) made all of the difference for me. As I've shared before, part of my story is that I learned that food couldn't fix the issues and I learned to turn in a deeper way to the true Source of my comfort - my Heavenly Father.  He was and is faithful in meeting my every need! Take Shape for Life/Medifast isn't a bag of tricks - it's a solid, proven program that works.  If you make the choice to work the program, you will not only lose weight, but you just might experience personal growth in the process.  How's that for an added treat? It all begins with the choices you make.  Choose wisely :-)