The Existential Diet

I think I know why so many people try to lose weight - through diet, excercise, or hopefully a combination of the two - and fail. I realized this today, after lunch, as I stood in my company's kitchen, staring at the myriad of free snack foods in which I could indulge. Hostess Fruit Pies. Oberto Beef Sticks (AKA "Snouts"). Pop of every variety. Peanuts. Goldfish crackers. And so on. All of it free, as a courtesy my company provides to its employees.

It's about making a constant choice. The term "lifestyle change" is thrown about, but what is that lifestyle change really?

It's breaking habit. Do you need to eat right now? Will food make you feel better? Sure, you feel crummy, but should you really skip your workout and eat pizza instead?

For me, twenty-some years of habit is a damn hard thing to break. It truly is a constant choice, one where I have to say - quite literally, in some instances - that I'm committed to making myself healthy.

I don't think many people can repeatedly make that choice in a successful manner. I suspect there's a lot of people who may make that choice initially, but when forced to make it over and over - often under stressful or otherwise difficult circumstances - will instead make the decision to go with habit.