No News is Good News

Some of the biggest weight-loss breakthroughs I've witnessed were in people who came to realize that they had to LET GO.  Let go of the idea that they could get a different body without any major changes.  Let go of cultural norms.  Let go of childhood notions about the body.

I have interviewed and examined lots of people who've had great weight loss, trying to find out how that “switch” works, why some people get to a point where they are willing to let go and how others can get to that same point. 

It has something to do with surrender.  (And by the way, a negative reaction to the word “surrender” is  a good indication that you might want to consider it further.)

Over ten years of employment with WW, I have noticed that a good many of us have control issues; in fact, I would say that it’s our primary common denominator.  We’re angry that we can’t seem to control our weight; someone else has controlled us in the past so we’re desperately trying to control our present; being out of control frightens us; being in control defines us.

Nothing wrong with control, of course; we just seem to over-do it. 

The truth is, we’re not. We’re not in control of most things around us, and we’re not designed to be.  When we try to control what is not ours to control, we end up in a state of chronic stress. You know the clinical picture without being a doctor: you’re irritable, bloated, your joints hurt, you skip exercise, you catch colds easily, you can’t sleep through the night, your craving for sweets is constant, you overwork to distract yourself and then you eat to relax, you drink more wine than you’d intended and your sleep is disturbed even more. 

Inside your body, where you aren’t seeing it, your blood pressure is going steadily up, your adrenal glands are over-producing cortisol and adrenaline, insulin resistance is rising and your body is burning less fat.

Those are the effects of chronic stress.  We make ourselves crazy when we try to control stressors that we simply can’t.  Like the economy, our adult children, politics, and why England gets the new episodes of Downton Abbey four months before we do.

Let go.  Seriously.  Let it go, no matter how big it is.  If it’s not something directly under your control, the only sane thing to do is let it go.  If that requires turning off your computer or television, then pull the plug. 

Try going for a week without getting any news.  No news at all.  Like fasting from the news.  Don’t worry, I’ve done this before and it's not fatal.  I guarantee the world will go on even though you’re not hearing the latest.  Just try it for a week and see what you discover. 

How does “the news” have anything to do with weight loss and health??  You try it and let me know.  If you’re a genuine news-hound, you’re going to find this difficult to do. But how many of those things on the news do you have actual, hands-on control over?  Unless you’re a senator or congressman, the answer is probably “none.”

For most of human history, there was not this constant influx of news.  The Sistine Chapel was painted. Dante wrote the Divine Comedy.  The great Library at Alexandria was built.  Civilization managed to muddle on just fine without the nightly news.

Of course, the news is not the only source of stress in our lives.  You may even say it has nothing to do with your stress.   I nevertheless invite you to go on a week’s News Fast.  Just see what happens and post your comments here.  

More about this subject: Curb Your Addiction to News