The Real ‘One Weird Trick’ to Weight Loss

We’ve all seen the “one weird trick to” lose 20 pounds, look like a fitness model or something else on Facebook. I have the audacity to write the definitive one-weird-trick article — and you won’t have to battle pop-up ads or strange porn come-ons to get the content. But before we get to the real one-weird-trick to effortlessly losing weight and keeping it off, I want to talk about what’s behind
the others.
The phenomenon that allows consumers to believe in a tea that will help them lose a pound a day is actually the same phenomenon that makes scams like Bernie Madoff’s possible. It’s called irrational greed. A simple way to think about irrational greed — which we all have — is that, when a reward is enticing enough, and seems easy enough, our emotional brain overrides our logical brain and we buy.
Madoff promised investors returns of 20 percent every single year (which is impossible) with no work. His explanation of how he was able to deliver these outlandish returns didn’t quite make sense, but they were good enough for people to suspend their better judgment — which was telling them that it all seemed too good to be true.
Weight-loss marketers understand irrational greed and exploit it by offering us pills that will melt away 10 pounds of body fat, exercise that requires no sweat, a diet that permits you to eat whatever you want, etc. Rationally, we all know these are too good to be true, but these marketers are still able to sell billions of dollars’ worth of these impossible products. Sexy, irrational claims tap into our desires and/or desperation.
So, what’s the real one-weird-trick?
If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably figured this out already: there is no one trick (weird or not) for effortless and lasting weight loss. Like everything else worthwhile, achieving the right weight, good health and fitness takes time, effort and consistency. No one builds a great business with one trick, just as no one builds a great family life with one trick.
When it comes to a lifetime of weight loss, health and fitness, it’s not a question of diet or exercise or sleep or accountability or drinking water or any other one thing. It’s all of these things.
“There are no silver bullets for this, only lead bullets.” — Ben Horowitz, “The Hard Thing About Hard Things”
A best-selling author and fitness expert, Josef Brandenburg owns True 180 Fitness in Georgetown. Information about his 14-Day trial may be found at true180.fitness.

*A best-selling author and fitness expert, Josef Brandenburg owns True 180 Fitness in Georgetown. Information about his 14-Day trial may be found at [true180.fitness](http://true180.fitness/).*