Do You Have “Helicopter People” in Your Life?

(c) Aleutie Fotosearch_k31636953

Everyone knows about the stereotypical, overbearing, helicopter parent that sees their kid’s straight-A report card and asks, “Why no A+?” This kind of joke is apparently very funny to people without such parents but depressing and straightforwardly true to people who have them.

Well, you get the exact same kind of people when it comes to losing weight and/or getting in shape.

Tell them you’re going to stop drinking soda and start drinking only water, and they’ll say, “That’s not going to do anything if you’re still eating burgers for lunch every day.

Tell them you’re going to start taking a half-hour walk at lunch every day and they’ll say sort-of derisively, “You do know that the amount of calories you’ll burn in one walk won’t even enough to make up for one banana, right?”

Only in the movies do people switch lifestyles overnight, suddenly cutting fat from their diet, exercising five times a week, swapping pasta for quinoa and steak for tofu. Almost everyone who’s successfully turned their weight around started out with one “useless” change, like exercising once a week or subbing water for soda. (I put “useless” in quotes because dropping one extra large soda can save you 500 calories just like that.)

Losing weight after being overweight or obese for a long time seems like an overwhelming and impossible task, like climbing Mt. Everest or, in some cases, a flight of stairs. Going from the way you are today to being a healthy weight can sometimes seem like a ridiculous fantasy. That’s why when you succeed with changing one tiny habit, it can change your whole perspective. It’s not this monstrous solid mountain you have to overcome, it’s just a pile of stones, and you just easily picked one up and moved it. It’s not about heaving the whole thing aside with some supernatural effort, it’s just about moving one stone at a time. And the first one wasn’t so bad, so you’re stoked to grab a couple more.

That’s why when a “friend” says, “What good is that 15 pounds going to do you?” you may get the urge to smack them. And maybe you should; it’ll burn a good five calories. 😉