Lean and Hard

If you know your Greek mythology, you're familiar with the story of Sisyphus, who was a king consigned as punishment to the futile business of pushing a boulder to the top of a hill, only to watch it roll back down to the bottom again, over and over again forever. This was his fate. He could do nothing to change it. Or could he?

Many of us see it as our immutable fate to be overweight, unhealthy, uncomfortable in our own skin, tired and unattractive, huffing and puffing our way through life. Like Sisyphus, we've tried rolling the boulder up the hill many times, only to watch dejectedly as it always rolled back down again. We've dieted, lost a few pounds, and gained it all back and more. So we've given up.

That was exactly my situation. As it turns out, it wasn't my fate to be fat and unhealthy. There's no question there's some comfort in giving up. It's easier to accept the way things are than it is to fight against our circumstances. But if you don't like the way things are, you can do something about it. I'm a bit rebellious by nature, don't like feeling hemmed in by circumstances. I can be realistic about things I can't change, but there's a lot we can change if we're prepared to defy what seems to be our fate.



Another story that relates to this point is the description I once heard about how animal trainers control elephants. They use a strong chain that's firmly anchored at one end into the ground and attached to a manacle on the animal's leg at the other. The elephant learns that he can only go so far before the chain pulls him up short. After this lesson sinks in, the trainer can use a much weaker chain that's only barely stuck into the ground, a constraint that the powerful animal could easily break free of. But the elephant has learned that he cannot break free and has long since given up trying.

So instead of giving up, or trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, perhaps it's time to find a better way. A way that works, that breaks us free from our addiction to simple carbs and the hunger they cause. A way that understands that fad diets are a waste of time and money, that gets back to sound fitness principles. A way that lets us transform our bodies and defy fate. It's time to set the boulder aside and make a change!

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