Will you take the Red Pill…or will your take the Blue Pill? Taking the blue pill will allow you to remain living in a world of fabricated illusion…while taking the red pill will allow you to escape the illusion and live in the world of reality. While you may no doubt recognize the red pill/blue pill reference from the movie Matrix, in the world or fitness and weight loss, we have our own version of the red pill and blue pill.
The blue pill…the world of fitness and weight loss illusion. It tastes great and is very easy to swallow. You may know this world well. It is a world filled with quick fixes and false promises that prey upon your vulnerability to want to be like the people in the magazines and on TV…and quickly! In this world of illusion, the possibility exists that there really are pills designed to make us lose weight. In this world, the possibility exists that there really is a machine we can use for only a few minutes a day to help us tighten and tone. In this world we CAN believe everything our celebrity heroes tell us.
In this world of illusion, we believe that there really are devices like electrical muscle stimulating machines that will help tone and tighten. The reality is that these machines have a very legitimate place in health care…as a rehabilitative aid for injuries and stroke patients but have no place in weight loss.
Taking the blue pill you will believe that the Ab Circle Pro really does work. Of course, the Ab Circle Pro (which claims that just 3 minutes of using the device is equal to 100 sit-ups and will melt away fat) is just a gimmick and has no place in reality.
The world of illusion is filled with claims from celebrity heroes like Dr. Oz (ohhhh….I’m gonna hit a nerve with some people on this one!!) and Kim Kardashian claiming the miracle wonders of Raspberry Ketones and the product QuickTrim respectively. Of course, if you watch Dr. Oz then you probably saw the episode where he claimed that raspberry ketones are “fat burners in a bottle”. The reality is that the only studies done on raspberry ketones were done on mice not humans…and mice physiology is a little different than ours. And the QuickTrim claim to detoxify and clean your body….the reality is that the Kardashians are now part of a class action lawsuit against them because of their part in these false claims.
Taking the red pill will break you from this world of false hope but the red pill isn’t as sweet and is harder to swallow and the world of reality can be a harsh place. In this world there are no quick fixes…because we know better. The world of the real is filled with eating properly most of the time and getting 30 minutes of activity in most days of the week. This world leads us into situations where we sometimes have to say no to cake and ice cream. Taking the red pill won’t be easy…but it will be filled with positive results!
Taking the red pill will have side effects that you need to know about. The red pill may:
1. Increase you lifespan and prevent some chronic diseases
2. Improve cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness
3. Reduce stress, anxiety and depression and improve mood
4. Maintain brain function
5. Increase bone density
6. Improve sleep
7. Improve your overall quality of life
HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS WORLD:
Eat more fruits and veggies…they’re good for you! Stay away from any diet that would limit your foods or worse yet, take away entire food groups. Avoid “detox” diets…nature gave you a perfectly good liver and kidneys for a reason and avoid fasting diets or very low calorie diets.
Get in some activity every day…30 minutes is good, even if you have to break that up into 10 minutes bouts throughout the day
Be accepting of yourself…you weren’t meant to look like people in the ads…nobody was!! Most models they show in ads and on TV don’t necessarily live a healthy lifestyle and most carry around so little body fat that it isn’t healthy…maintaining a “6-pack” requires you to maintain a body fat percentage lower than recommended for optimal health. And for goodness sakes don’t believe everything the latest celebrities tell you…you don’t want your Urologist performing brain surgery so don’t take fitness and nutrition advise from unqualified actors or celebrity doctors that have no training in nutrition. You are who you are…maintain a healthy lifestyle and be happy for the person you are…the people that know you are happy with you and you should be too!
So…which will you choose…the blue pill or the red pill?