Quote:
Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard
I have met obese people who are just plain lazy slobs who don't care enough to get healthy because they don't have the will power to do anything for themselves, and frankly it is pretty disheartening to see someone who eats themselves into being little more than a torso. No one is saying that it is easy, in fact it is difficult as you stated before... however there are frankly lazy people who couldn't be willing to put in that effort - because the other option is easier.
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Now this is interesting. I was at a conference in Belleville on the weekend where were talking about "motivations to start losing weight" and the workshop that I was giving was on why MEN start losing weight. And typically guys won't start losing weight until they have hit a crisis. Last month I was at a conference in another province where the biggest male loser said "After my 3rd heart attack I figured I had to do something about my weight". No sh*t Sherlock! Oi. So what gets people to START losing the weight is of particular interest to me. The only reason people are going to be willing to make a huge lifestyle change is because they figure that life is not good enough right now and they want to make the effort to make it better. The hardest people I find to motivate are the people that have good jobs, a good house, a loving spouse, 2 good kids and a dog. If you have the American Dream, you are probably pretty darn happy no matter what size you are. In 2011 and 2012 when I would go out on speaking tours I would get up on stage and tell people "How I lost the weight". Everyone loved the speech. Standing ovations. Hugs afterward. Wonderful. Except I came back to see the same group the next year and nobody did anything different. So I ripped up the old speech and now when I get up on stage I tell people "Why I lost the weight". I think people are going to put in the effort, they need to hear how their life will be even better than it is today. If I'm starting with someone that has hit rock bottom and are miserable, I've got a good shot at getting them to make a commitment to changing their life. If I have someone that is pretty darn happy with their life, it's near impossible to get them motivated to do something different.
I still say that it is a disease. The only "choice" people have is whether they want to go through the detox/chemo/whatever to cure the disease. Like I said above, it's not easy, but it's worth it. And I can understand people that are pretty darn happy with where their life is not wanting to go through the detox. Functional alcoholics with a strong family life are the hardest ones to motivate to get of the bottle.