By Dietitian Jill Place
We were both in pain! But my colleague said to me “I tried one antibiotic, and it didn’t work. Then my doctor gave me another … and it did!”
I didn’t tell her that antibiotics didn’t work on the probable virus she had. As they’re only good for bacterial infections. And that doctors prescribe them willy-nilly for just about everything.
I also didn’t tell her that she had probably messed up her gut’s microbiome. And the immune system contained in it. Which might leave her vulnerable for leaky gut and its resultant tons of problems. Read my article, What IS Leaky Gut? to find out all of them.
Me … I totally felt that my bile duct was blocked. It ached in the middle right of my back … I knew because I knew my body well. I understood it, how it functioned, and had done a lot of alternative healing on myself and others. And that I needed to clean up my diet a bit, go to my chiropractor/healer, and take some appropriate supplements.
So What’s the Magic Pill Mindset?
No, she didn’t take a pill. But what my colleague did is very much the magic pill mindset.
What is it? It’s mirrored in the unbelievable consumerism messages we’re bombarded with daily . Some experts even believe that this type of decision-making was borne out of early man’s capacity to embrace pleasure and avoid pain. A decision-making capacity that’s now rooted deeply into our DNA.
And produces magical thinking like this:
“Want to lose 10 pounds in just two weeks?”
“Get a six-pack in just three weeks!”
“Earn a million a in month with this secret strategy!”
“Increase your psychic powers to get whatever you want!”
Oh, yeah dude … I want all that and throw in a lobster dinner and French champagne too!
You’re bombarded with these messages all day every day from smart advertising people who know how to tap into this magical thinking. How can you not succumb?
These messages are the backbone of infomercials, emails … and the magic pill mindset. Even one of my fave alternative gurus sends emails with subject lines like, “Better than BOTOX results from a Brazilian herb?” Just to sell stuff. AARRGGH!
The Main Ideas of the Magic Pill Mindset
Ludvig Sunstrom pegged it perfectly in an article in gainingmomentum.com:
People who are operating under influence of the magic pill mindset show two prominent types of thinking and behavior:
- They think that they are more competent than they actually are. When things aren’t turning out the way they want them to, these people search for external problems instead of looking inside to see if something is off, and then find the root cause. For example, if they are disliked by a person they might think that there’s something wrong with their clothes rather than acknowledging the fact that they have an unpleasant personality.
- Once they have identified that external thing that they think they need, they believe that their life would be perfect if only they had that thing.
In both of these cases of the magic pill mindset it is evident that the person does it to shift the away focus from themselves onto something else in order to remove the discomfort that arises when they get confronted with a situation that is in conflict with how they perceive themselves.
The Magic Pill Mindset of Weight Loss
Here’s an example … the magic pill mindset around weight loss. People think if they just take a pill they’ll magically lose weight. They’re also mystically seduced by before-and-after pictures and impossible promises.
What the pill company doesn’t tell you is that you also need to diet and exercise. You also have to (HORRORS!) sometimes feel hungry and deprived. Why would they? If they told you then you’d never buy their magic pill.
Even WW (the new name for Weight Watchers because … I guess … they wanted to get away from the stigma of those words) shows happy slender people eating what they want and happily recording it on their app. What is WRONG with that picture?
When I went to WW, I saw large people sadly submitting to weigh-ins and suffering through the fact that they couldn’t lose as much weight as the next guy. And most likely binging in private. That was the reality. And I was one of them at that time.
In short, people are looking for an answer outside of themselves. And deflecting the real need here. The need to take responsibility for their own actions.
Kicking The Magic Pill Mindset OUT
I hate to toot my own horn … but what I did instead of my colleague is to take responsibility for my own health. I know that idea isn’t popular or mainstream … but that’s what you need to do to get the magic pill mindset out of your life.
What’s the pay-off? Lots of self-esteem and empowerment. And, for those seeking weight loss or health … weight loss or health.
But think of it as a sickness you need to heal yourself from. And here are some of the steps:
Need some guidance and a plan to change your Magic Pill Mindset? Sign up for my “Let’s Talk HEALTH!” session. (click below for details)
Get Real!
Sorry … but you have to accept the fact that changing ANYTHING about yourself takes work. Especially your health. Do me a favor and understand that …. PULEEESE!
Understand that your journey can be lonely and peppered with the minefields of people who want to sabotage you for many reasons. But it’s still your only journey out of this.
So take an informal assessment of where you’re at right now (it’s better if you scribble the responses down as you may want to use them later). Ask yourself:
- What do I want to change about my health?
- What am I willing to do in order to get what I want?
- How much work, time, and effort am I willing to put in every day?
You also may want to rate these on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being very unwilling to 5 being very willing). If you’re not a “4” or “5”, you might have to do more work on your resistance. Or talk about it with me.
It Takes a Whole Mindset Shift
First, come to terms with the fact that the “magic pill” does not exist. And give up the idea of an easy path to what you want.
Shift your focus to thinking realistically about what might and might not work for your situation. If your doctor doesn’t have an answer, do some research yourself. Most important, open your mind to new possibilities that you never thought of before.
I’ve often said that 80% of us (including my colleague) now have leaky gut. Which leads to a ton of other problems … one of which may be bothering you.
If doing it yourself might be daunting, seek out alternative practitioners in whom you have confidence. So that you can trust their judgement (and begin to trust your own decisions too) throughout your healing process.
And realize that you’re going to have to work for all this!
It’s Multi-Factorial
Your health is a body, mind, AND spirit proposition. You could be doing all you can do with diet, exercise, and natural compounds … and STILL not getting well.
That’s because you need to possibly clean up your ENTIRE act before you can get TOTALLY well. Which includes your relationships (personal, work and social) and mental well-being.
The bottom line is that you may have to dredge up stuff you don’t want to see to get better. I’ve had clients who have done everything else to get well and still have lingering problems. Their ultimate answers may lie elsewhere.
The solution … be open to change … as always. Be teachable. And possibly seek out a professional who can help you in this arena.
It Takes a LOOONG Time
I heard one of my colleagues caution to go slow with supplements and other treatments. As the body may not be able to adapt to all that. And a huge gong chimed jarringly it my head!
It’s true … I usually start treating someone with diet … then check their pH to see if it’s in the right range, and treat if it’s not. We then do some adrenal and liver support. All this before I actually START the actual supplement regimen for what’s ailing them.
The reality is (OOOOHHH … how much reality can you TAKE in one article) that all this may take a long time … possibly years depending upon how sick or overweight we are. And that that idea totally conflicts with our modern “I want it now!” mindset.
Perhaps that’s why it takes such a long time to lose weight. Large loss of pounds may throw the body out of balance, which can result in more serious problems than just a few pounds.
And along with that HAS to come that change in that magic pill mindset. Otherwise … if you’ve been a weight loser in the past … you know you can lose a 100 pounds and gain it all back. Just like magic!
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