Any Beatles trivia folks out there? The Fab Four released a very different album in 1967 called “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. One of the songs in the album was “With A Little Help From My Friends”, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. This was also one of the rare songs where Ringo Starr was the lead singer. Joe Cocker covered the song with a very famous rendition at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 (and NO, your good doctor was too young at the time to party at Woodstock).
Let’s bring this song to the weight control arena: If losing weight and keeping that weight off on our own were easy, 70% of Americans would not be overweight/obese. There are many reasons why people need help in conquering their weight control issues including:
- Chemical imbalances leading to cravings
- Innate “chemical wiring” for humans to succumb to immediate gratification behaviors
- Slowing metabolism as we age
- Busy schedules precluding focusing on our own weight control efforts
Many more bullet points may be added to this list.
Turning to the concept of “A Little (or actual A LOT) of Help From Your Friends”: There are many instances/situations when your family/friends can be quite helpful in your own weight control efforts. Here are some examples:
- Asking family members to help by not placing high caloric/high carb/high sugar foods in front of you.
- Requesting that your spouse does not shop and bring into the house derailing foods
- Having a friend or family member join you on your exercise activities
- Informing your friend/family member before a dinner party that you are in a weight-losing mode and would benefit from high protein/high vegetable choices available.
There are many other bullet points that may be added to this list as well.
The bottom line: Please do not be bashful or afraid of asking the special people in your life to help you reach higher levels of health and happiness. You would most definitely do the same for them. We all need a little (or a lot) of help from our friends.
Enjoy a 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame version with Paul and Ringo singing the song (with a little help from their friends).