Fundamentals vs. Small Details

I am continually overwhelmed at the number of options and ways people have to get healthy.   There are almost as many ways to get healthy as there is to get sick.  The marketing gurus continually strike wish and wonder in all kinds and shapes of people as their awe invoking optimism that their solution is ‘the’ solution for you inspires more hope than a winning lottery ticket.

Do a lot of these solutions work?  Yes – actually they do (you didn’t think I would say that did you?).  But there is a simple and basic reason they work.  They stick to fundamentals. Let’s take weight loss as an example:  I could list hundreds if not thousands of diets and exercise programs that actually work.  People put in a DVD, bounce around their living room like their feet are on fire and lose weight.

Others follow a food plan that limits the type of foods based on some gauge the participant has to determine and lose weight.  No matter what the fine details, somewhere behind the scenes of each and every one of these programs, some basic fundamental are being adhered too.  In the area of weight loss, the fundamental being applied, whether or not you know it, is based on calories.  They somehow get you to eat less or exercise more.  That’s it.  To many times we get so hung up on the fine nitty-gritty, we can’t see the forest through the trees.

If you are attracted to the fine details of a program then go for it.  At least you’re doing something.  But be sure to look closely for the fundamentals of it so you know what to do when the fine details become monotonous…