Stop pretending like there is no context to things

I am just not sure what it is that makes more people lately talk about things without a context. Without a setting. Without an environment.

Take weight loss for instance. It’s popular to simplify what needs to be done to lose weight and the undertone is usually that if these things don’t work for you, it’s YOUR fault. It’s amazing how many people buy this, year after year, and company after company profit from it — The problem is there is a societal context to weight loss. Most people don’t talk about how we are set up to fail by being surrounded with super tempting fast foods and more 24–7, on the TV and out in the world. Companies know that sugary foods and fat-filled foods are like drugs to people, especially stressed people. But most of us (women mostly) absorb the blame for our weight loss failures. And that is just how the weight loss industry likes it, because every January, at New Year’s resolution time, they convince the guilty to try again and the companies make a lot more money.

The truth is most people who lose weight gain it back within the year. It is really hard to sustain. Why? Because the environment is the same, the tempting food everywhere, the empty calories. It is really, really hard to “diet’ in this context. People work, have kids, need to make meals quickly, it takes a lot of effort to be healthy. Time and…