Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to
what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.
― Dan Millman
People often get all excited about losing weight and then they run up against
their own resistance to change. Instead of going with the flow of events, they try to control and resist the process. Then they wonder why nothing works for them. Change requires surrender. You have to let go and work with the process. The more you try to resist, the harder it is.
Change and transition are anxiety provoking. Many people can't or don't want to deal with uncertain outcomes. Believe
it or not, quitting can be a way of controlling the outcome. As long as you quit or don't start, you can stay in control. Unfortunately, all you get is what you've always gotten. Nothing changes.
I see this phenomenon in my clients all the time. They start my program which requires letting go of dieting, and around week 1 or 2 they feel anxious without the structure of a diet. They often don’t want
to hang out with the temporary anxiety and many want to run back to Jenny or Weight Watchers even though they say those have never worked for them.
It’s the devil they know as opposed to the devil they don’t know. Many would rather stay in the self-defeating yo-yo dieting pattern because at least it’s familiar and it’s all spelled out for them. Unfortunately, it’s never worked for them long term;
in fact, it’s left them fatter.
