Madeline’s Reviews > Allen Carr's Easy Way to Enjoy Exercise: Get fit without willpower > Status Update

“According to the world health organization, worldwide obesity figures have almost trebled since 1975.”

I’m worried this might have been written by Ai using the prompt “write a book about exercise using the Allen Carr writing style and Easy Way method.” Lots of grammatical errors, but honestly decently engaging writing.

“When you exercise purely for the sake of what you want from exercise (better appearance, performance, etc.), your mind will focus on every ounce of effort much more than if you were doing something else at the same time. This is why gyms have TVs and loud music playing. It helps to take your mind somewhere else.”

Finding other reasons to be moving beyond the simple act of moving itself?

“Give a bunch of kids a football or even a tennis ball, and they'll kick it around for hours. We were all like that once. And the fact that we’re no longer like that has nothing to do with getting older, it has everything to do with us adopting unhealthy lifestyles as we age.”

“A dog doesn’t run because it has to, it runs because it wants to. The same as true of young children. As soon as they are out of class at break time, they rush around the playground, laughing and shrinking with Joy. There is no pain involved. It’s pure pleasure.”

Movement/walking/the outdoors shouldn’t be regarded as hard or painful; mental misconception to challenge.

“the number of girls and women aged between 10 and 24 committing suicide in England and Wales has risen by 94% since 2012.”

- author is speaking about the unrealistic beauty and body standards set by social media filters, magazines, etc.

“It’s like wearing tight shoes, just for the relief you feel when taking them off.”

Genius analogy for how substance abuse works.

“eventually, the reward pathways are so numbed by this bombardment that genuine pleasures hardly register at all unless accompanied by the drug. Happiness, sadness, stress, or relaxation are accompanied by an additional layer of restlessness and emptiness, unless the drug is taken.”
- Brain fooled into seeking addictive behavior as relief

1/2 “Addictions take hold when parts of the brain known as the "reward pathways" are corrupted. Reward pathways are triggered by naturally occurring hormones to make us feel good when we do something healthy or beneficial, thus encouraging us to keep doing it. When we become addicted to drugs such as nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, or alcohol, we experience a feeling of dissatisfaction soon after each dose

“Can you acknowledge the possibility that you have developed an addiction-like tenancy towards immobility, an addiction-like tendency to minimizing recreational effort, fueled perhaps by an addiction to certain foods and drinks? There’s no shame in that.”

Reading this as part of my 75 Hard challenge… I’m definitely curious about self help and how effective or ineffective it can be. Many people write off self help as ridiculous or a waste of time… let’s see!