We do some strange things in the name of getting thin. Liquid-only plans, drinking water mixed with maple syrup and lemon for days, colon cleanses, and cutting out entire food groups are only a few examples. Many of these approaches are extreme, unsustainable, or simply not healthy.
I’m not here to single out any specific program. Instead, I want to acknowledge a truth most of us recognize: we’ve all tried odd or extreme strategies that, in the pursuit of health, may actually undermine it. I’ve experimented with extreme diets and intense exercise regimens at various times. I share this not to judge anyone but to be honest about the messy reality of trying to change.
This past summer I poured a lot of time and energy into writing an ebook titled The 101 Tips and Helps You Need Today to Reach Your Fitness Goals. What began as a blog post grew into a comprehensive guide. My husband encouraged me to expand it into an ebook after I collected the practical tips and lessons I learned while losing more than 100 pounds and maintaining that loss for years.
I expected the ebook would resonate widely. I believe the content is solid—realistic, sustainable advice that helps people lose weight, keep it off, and live healthier lives. This isn’t a quick-fix promise; it’s guidance based on long-term experience. For nine years I’ve managed to keep my weight within a few pounds of my goal, even though I still have setbacks now and then.
Despite my hopes, the ebook hasn’t taken off the way I thought it would. I tried redesigning the cover and changing the title, which helped a bit, but the overall reach remains modest. Some of my lighter or less technical blog posts have drawn far more readers, and a few pieces have reached thousands.
Talking it over with my mom, she suggested a reason: “Maybe people don’t want to hear about the ‘normal’ way you lost weight. They want the newest, flashiest cure.” Her point stuck with me. There’s an appetite for trends, fads, and the promise of a rapid transformation. Those things can sell, even if they don’t deliver lasting results.
“Maybe people don’t want to know the ‘normal’ way you lost weight. They want to read about the next latest and greatest thing in weight loss.”
I understand the attraction. Novelty feels hopeful and exciting. But quick-fix methods are often temporary—here today, gone tomorrow. When I was at my heaviest, I desperately wanted change. I was unhappy, but I wasn’t always ready to make the consistent, sometimes uncomfortable choices necessary for lasting transformation.
When I first became a stay-at-home mom, I watched Rosie O’Donnell’s daytime show for comic relief and companionship. She talked openly about food and her struggles, and seeing someone else be honest about those struggles felt like solidarity. So when Rosie brought a personal trainer onto her show and began a weight-loss effort, I remember feeling unexpectedly betrayed—like my companion in indulgence had suddenly gone off to join a gym.
That reaction might seem silly, but it captures a deeper reality: many of us need connection, understanding, and someone to commiserate with. At the same time, we also need tools, fresh motivation, and a push to change. Weight and health struggles are rarely solved by a single book, product, or short-lived craze. They’re complex, often lifelong challenges that require patience and steady commitment.
Over the coming month I want to explore practical, faith-informed ways to reframe our thinking, embrace a little healthy weirdness, and listen for what God might be telling us about our bodies and choices. I hope to share ideas that are realistic, sustainable, and compassionate—strategies that help you move forward without shame or extreme measures.
What do you think? Are you looking for a new program, or do you prefer steady, everyday habits? How much time are you willing to commit to fitness in your daily life, and what approaches have actually worked for you?
- Faithful Fitness: God, Weight Loss, and Exercise
- Why My eBook Hasn’t Been Popular
- One Weird Thing that Helps Me Enjoy Exercise More
- How Does Guilt Fit into Weirdly Faithful Fitness?
- Are there Good Foods and Bad Foods?
- The Freedom of Constraint
- Call Me Weird, But…I LOVE the Paleo Lifestyle!
- Do This When You Feel Ridiculously Underqualified
- Laughter is the best…Fitness?
- Motivations for The Coming Week
- Ask the Experts for Fitness Advice: YOU!
- I Am a Person Who
- How my Son’s Life-Threatening Condition Gave Me Freedom
- Do You Need Exercise Accountability?
- How Losing the Guilt Breaks the Cycle
- My Family Hates Exercise
- Garlic Sweet Potato Mash
- Grace for the Now
- How Workouts Can Lead to Fat Gain
- Your Expert Advice: Fitness
- Don’t Forget de’ FEET!
- Four Steps to Tell Your Support Peeps What You Need
- A Day in the Life of Maintaining a 100 lb Weight Loss
- Three Girls and a Dog
- The Red Zone: How to Enjoy the Holidays and Stay Fit
- How to Avoid Burn Out and Find Fitness Success