Brian Gosur discusses the similarities between alcoholism and obesity, drawing on his experience overcoming alcoholism. He outlines five steps to address obesity: 1) Admit you have a problem, as this is the hardest step; 2) Seek support from loved ones to help in the battle; 3) Find the right weight loss plan that works for you; 4) Exercise must be incorporated into any plan; and 5) Take action starting today rather than procrastinating, as obesity can have serious health consequences if not addressed.
1. My name is Brian Gosur, and I am an alcoholic. Alcoholism
is a disease. It's a disease that slowly creeps into your life
and makes its claim on you. It takes over everything, and
becomes the desire, the drive, and the motivation for your
life. It kills, not only on a physical level, but on an
emotional, and spiritual level as well. It destroys your
family, your finances, and your friends. You will die a very
slow and agonizing death, while everyone who loves you,
can only sit back and watch this horrible tragedy take
place.
2. The real sad thing about this type of decease is you, and
only you, hold the key to turning this whole thing around.
Your family and your friends can try to encourage you and
support you with everything that they have in them, but
only you can make the decision to quit, and change the
course of your life forever.
3. So it is with obesity. Obesity is a disease, and 67% of
Americans have it. Like alcohol the first thing you do is
never admit that you have a problem.
4. You say, you can stop whenever you want. You say, you
just reward yourself for working real hard all week. No big
deal...yes you kind of over eat at that holiday party, but it
was Christmas...You just couldn't say no and hurt their
feelings...besides, everyone else was doing it...right? You
tell yourself that, after the holidays, you're going to start
that diet and do those exercises, and you will get back that
shape that you once had.
5. Any of those excuses sound familiar? They do to me,
because as an alcoholic, I used every one of them over and
over again. They didn't mean a thing to me because I
knew, and I never had any intention, of ever doing or
keeping any of them. They were just empty words that I
used all the time, but they had no real meaning for me,
and all the people who loved knew that as well.
6. People will eventually begin to give up on you, and you
will find yourself drifting further and further away from
your home, and from those that love you and depend on
you.
7. I know that I can never ever have a drink again, and I don't
miss it one single bit. It has been almost twelve years of
sobriety for me, and I thank God, and my wonderful wife,
for bringing me through this journey. It was not easy. It
was hard, but it was worth every step that I took to get to
where I am today.
8. As I contemplated writing this article, I realized that there
are a lot of similarities between the decease of alcoholism
and the disease of obesity. I wanted to use my experience
and my struggle with my disease, to help those of you in
your struggle with your disease of obesity, and even those
of you who may be just at the start, of your unhealthy life
of being over weight and over eating.
9. Here are five steps that you must come to grips with
before you can ever hope of getting healthy again.
11. The first thing, and the hardest thing for me to admit was
that I had a drinking problem. This is the hardest step for
anyone to take. I thought that if I only drank on the
weekend and got drunk on the weekend, I was OK, but my
friend told me that it just meant that I was a weekend
alcoholic, but an alcoholic none the less.
12. Food will slowly start to creep into your life just like that.
It tastes good and you like to eat it, and you never give a
thought to what you're eating or if it's good for you.
Before you know it your eating more of it all the time and
at all hours of the day and night, you might be even
sneaking it into your house or bedroom, and the pounds
start to slowly add-on.
13. You have to realize the truth and see, that food is no
longer just for living, but you are living for your food.
15. The second thing that I came to realize, was that I could
not win this battle by myself. That's a very hard thing to
admit when you're an, "I can do that," kind of person. You
know the kind that never asks for directions when he gets
lost...that's me.
16. Look for those people who love you and care about, and
want to help you win this battle, and then cling to them
and learn to lean an them, it will make all those bumps in
the road, a lot easier to take.
18. There are a ton of weight loss products and programs out
there. Find the one that works for you. Check them out
and see if it's right for you, because if it's not, you will not
see results and after a couple of weeks of struggling for
results... you will quit.
19. Take the time and do the research and find the right
product and plan your road to a new healthy you.
21. No if, ands, or buts about it, you must get off the couch
and get some physical exercise. That's part of the reason
why you're in this situation in the first place. Eating too
much, eating all the wrong things, and never getting any
exercise.
22. I think that exercise is the first thing to go. You get a little
bit older and you get a little bit busier, and then you lose
the contact with your friends that you used to play
basketball, tennis, and golf with, and you learn a new
activity...how to veg out on the couch with your chips,
beer and pizza.
23. Start to integrate an exercise plan in along with your new
eating plan. Take a shake in the morning, a light lunch, and
a good healthy dinner, and then a walk or a run to close
the day out. You will feel better and best of all; you will
see those pounds start to fall off. Believe me...it's a great
feeling.
25. As my friend Cedrick Harris always says, "don't be a
member of the biggest nation on the planet, called
Procrastination. I use to live there, and I didn't like it one
single bit. Nothing gets moving in that nation, and there
are no success stories coming out of that country.
26. How many times have you said, "You got a point there
Brian, I'm going to take a good look at it later," "I'm pretty
busy right now, but I will check it out," "I know I need to
do something, I'm going to get started someday."
Someday becomes next month, and next month becomes
next year, and in the mean time you're getting fatter, and
your heart is working harder, and you're blood pressure is
getting higher, and eventually your walking time
bomb...EXPLODES...and you die.
27. My doctor tried to tell me this years ago, until one day he
sat me down and just hit me between the eyes with the
truth. My alcoholism was going to kill me. He said you are
going to die, if you don't change your life around right
now...today!
28. Obesity is a disease, you and only you can decide whether
you're going to be another statistic, or another success
story that will reach out and save someone else's life. But
you need to start today...right now.
