Is Quitting Ever an Option?
You can always quit. In fact, I encourage it.
Quit wasting time, quit regretting, quit wondering if you’re broken, quit guessing, quit wanting magic, quit quitting on yourself.
When I talk about quitting, I’m talking about bringing an end to the timeless struggle with how our body’s respond to our efforts. For too long, we’ve assumed that if we could just stop being such a quitter, we’d finally get to our goals. I doubt that’s true.
If it were, there wouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar weight loss industry that never quits. There would cease to exist isles in the grocery store dedicated to manufactured food that promises weight loss without effort — no more shelves of protein powders, pills and supplements.
Instead, we keep trying. We keep trying to lose weight, reduce disease and live a healthy lifestyle. But we’re failing because our efforts are spent on an imaginary lie that it’s fast, easy and the only reason you haven’t succeeded is because you didn’t know the secret.
We thought we could believe marketing companies telling us that taste, color and texture were the most important things about foods. We’re now realizing that the food industry has become a conglomerate of a few very powerful companies.
Coke, Pepsi, Proctor and Gamble, Mars, Kelloggs and Nestle are hardly the companies we think of when we want to buy real, single ingredient food. These company’s goal is to create shelf-stable foods that are made from processed ingredients that very, very slowly, make us sick in ways we don’t understand. Then, the pharmacy industry steps in with drugs that ease a symptom but never fix the problem, and keeps us on medications forever.
It’s been a hard realization of late that money, power, greed and influence are more important than being of service to others. We’d like to assume that people, especially those in positions of influence and governance, want to do what’s best for other people. And this is when quitting can be a big help.
We need to quit giving away our health to companies who make money off our sickness and instead quit being afraid to trust yourself. You don’t have to be a scientist, doctor, nutritionist or PhD to learn what makes you feel your best. You just need to believe that your body was made to heal by a Creator who never makes mistakes, increase your awareness of how what you eat and how you move makes you feel, and then follow the improvements.
If eating earlier in the day help your energy and mental acuity, do it. If exercising on an empty stomach works well, do it. If eating fewer vegetables or less protein or more fat or more carbs or less fat and carbs helps, do it. As you can see, it takes time and experimenting to know what works, not just following guidelines arbitrarily.
If you agree with quitting on this deliberate profit off of your sickness, then all you need to do is start with the basics:
drink filtered water amap, with sodium, magnesium and potassium (electrolytes that help our cells hydrate unlike plain water)
move your body daily and intermittently (don’t sit for hours at a time)
eat food that was grown or raised (fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, butter, etc) instead of processed foods from boxes and bags — this may seem too hard at first, but I can help you navigate the start so you realize your potential!)
see sunlight every morning and throughout the day, even 1min at a time, without glasses or contacts, so that your brain gets the correct signals to make hormones in the right amounts and right times
improve sleep hygiene by reducing amount of blue light in the evening (tv, LED bulbs, electronic devices, etc) and seek help if sleep is of low quality and quantity
If you’re not checking these boxes, then you don’t need any pills or packages to help you get healthy. You need to do these things so that your body will heal. Until it does, no amount of dieting, eliminating or Rx will actually work for real and last a lifetime.
Quit quitting on the miracle that you and your body are. And if you need help. reach out.
Merry Christmas! This season is for joy, reflection, and connection with loved ones. Celebrate traditions, share experiences, and spread kindness. May your days be filled with warmth, laughter, and cherished memories as you gather with family and friends. Enjoy the miracle of giving and gratitude this season.
