Warning Lights

I know almost nothing about cars.  Most of my ignorance is frankly by choice, because I don't WANT to know how to change the oil or change a tire.  Our mechanic changes the oil every 3,000 miles and I keep my auto club card handy in case of an emergency on the road.  Despite my chosen ignorance when it comes to cars, I know that the warning lights are not to be ignored.  When the "check engine" light or another warning light comes on, I get it checked out immediately because I know that ignoring it will lead to bigger, more expensive problems.  The warning light tells me that something is interfering with the car's ability to run at peak performance, and ignoring the light won't make the problem go away.

I'm guessing you're probably the same way when it comes to warning lights on your car.  Whether you're a mechanic, just like to tinker under the hood or are as clueless as I am about the whole thing, you know that warning lights are nothing to ignore.

It's ironic that while we pay close attention and spring into action the minute a warning light comes on in our car, we will go years (or in my case decades) ignoring the warning lights in our bodies.  We see a few (or many) extra pounds reflected on the scale, our clothes get tight so we go out and buy a bigger size, our cholesterol and blood pressure go up and we start taking medication, and perhaps our blood sugar rises and we find ourselves on oral medications or even insulin. 

Instead of seeing each and every one of these things are warning lights flashing in front of us, some of us may have just assumed that these things were part of getting older.  After all, doesn't just about every person over 40 take medication for something or another?  By the time people are in their 60's or 70's, we marvel at those rare individuals who "only take an aspirin for a headache," because we assume that taking prescription medication is just part of the aging process.  Instead of springing into action when the scale goes up or our clothes get tight, we've acquiesced to the inevitable and reluctantly purchased a larger size. 

As we've ignored our warning lights, we've continued to function, just as a car will continue to run for a while (most of the time).  However, over time we find that our own "engines" are running less and less effectively - we lack the energy and stamina we need so we take the escalator instead of the stairs and we look for the closest parking spot.  We come home at the end of the day completely depleted of energy and spend our evenings eating in front of the TV.  Our lab work sends another warning light that things aren't running internally as designed and we begin taking medication.  And all the while the warning light keeps flashing faster and faster.

That description may or may not have described where you've been, and those warning lights may have been the catalyst for you starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast.  The good news is that you are now taking definite, positive steps to address and potentially reverse many of the things that triggered your own warning lights.  It's amazing to see how quickly blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar readings often stabilize and even normalize once people get started on this program.  Even before significant weight is lost, many of these readings improve dramatically.  Eating six small, nutritious meals evenly spaced throughout the day has a profound impact on our health. Take Shape for Life 's medical director and co-founder, Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen, refers to these six small meals as "fuelings."  Think of each meal as putting the highest quality fuel into your own tank, because that's exactly what you're doing!

So congratulations on choosing to respond to your warning lights!  Each time you make the choice to fuel your body appropriately, you are doing what you can to ensure that your "engine" will run at peak efficiency for years to come.  The choices you make today really do count, so choose wisely :-).