A response to "It's too hard"

Image from Flickr, by jimmypk218

It started out as a conversation.  I was talking about my renewed focus on fitness and losing weight, which lead to them saying that they'd love to lose weight, but "it's just too hard".

Folks, what's too hard is being overweight.

I'm still fat.  My body mass index is still over 30, even after losing over 35 lbs.  I'm not going to blast away at folks who are overweight, because I know all to well what they're going through.  Let me say it again: What's hard is being overweight.


It's hard to not be able to play with your kids.  It's hard to know that you're looking down the barrel of a short lifespan because you're going to die from a heart attack at 45.  It's hard to look at yourself in the mirror and delude yourself into thinking you look good.  It's hard being tired all the time.

What isn't hard is losing the weight.  It takes time, and there are aspects that are difficult, but they quickly become routine.  It's not difficult to skip out on grains and eat more vegetables and lean meats.  It's pretty easy to skip out on sweetened goodies that do nothing for you nutritionally.  It's difficult at first, but in the long run, it's really not.  You find yourself working around it before you even know it.

Now, that's not to say it will happen overnight.  No, if it were that easy, we wouldn't have two-thirds of all Americans overweight.  Instead, you have to work for it a bit.  It'll take time, but the effort itself isn't all that difficult.

Saying, "It's too hard" is a cop out.  By saying it's more difficult than you can manage, you're absolving yourself of responsibility.  After all, it's not your fault you can't do it, right?

Wrong.

Folks, you're responsible for your life.  Yes, sometimes things happen that are outside of your control.  You're not responsible for the tornado that takes out your house.  You're not responsible for the jerk who didn't pay attention on the street and sideswiped your car.  However, those are events.  They're not your life.  That, you're responsible for.

If you're overweight and out of shape, that is your fault 99 times out of 100.  Sure, it's possible that you are the victim of something that prevents you from exercising and you may have some condition that makes losing weight impossible.  If so, I can't help you unfortunately.  Those are medical conditions and I'm not a doctor.  I'm just a guy who knows how to change that stuff for the other 99 percent.

To that other 99 percent, quit whining.  It's time to step up and put forth a little effort.  It's not that hard, either.  What's hard is what will happen to you if you don't.