Maybe somebody out there can explain this to me.

We like to believe that we teach our children to do the right thing, that working smart and working hard will benefit us in the long run. We don’t want to see them slack off because we know where laziness might lead.

Here’s the part that I need help with.

Why, when it comes to physical fitness or better nutritional health, do we become the lazy, take-the-easy route people that we’re desperately trying to get our kids not to be?

Worse, when it comes to physical fitness and better nutritional health, why are so many of us allowing our children to do what they want?

It appears that science is getting closer than ever to making it even easier for us to develop habits that will be hard to break. That elusive “magic” pill that really isn’t magic is almost here.

Major pharmaceutical companies are racing to be among the first to release drugs that will supposedly enable us to eat what we want, not exercise and still lose weight in the double digits.

The most popular fat-loss drugs right now are: Meridia, Xenical, Alli, Lorcaserin, Byetta and Symlin. Byetta is a diabetes drug that has the “side effect” of weight loss. So the company, Amylin, is developing a drug call Symlin, which will be geared toward obesity.

Even Pfizer, maker of Viagra, wants a piece of the obesity pie. It started working with Bristol-Squibb to develop DGAT-1 inhibitors last year. DGAT is an essential enzyme in creating triglycerides and the body’s ability to store fat.

So, what does all this mean?How about a tremendous amount of money? How about so many billions spent on weight-loss drugs that nobody can come close to an accurate amount?

Most importantly, how about a way to keep each of us from figuring out the real reason behind our excess girth?

We’ll take the drugs, lose a few pounds, then gain them back, then take the drugs again, lose a few more pounds, gain them back. Get the picture?

There are several million morbidly obese individuals in this country and millions more throughout the world. Those folks need medical intervention, and I understand that.

But my question isn’t for them. It’s for the millions of others who think that a drug that helps them lose 20, 30, 40, 50 pounds is the cure-all.

Ask folks who have been addicted to harmful drugs, ask people who have suffered from depression, and ask those learning to walk again after an accident broke both legs and a hip – they’ll tell you the journey back to a semblance of normal life wasn’t the easiest. And sometimes it was painful.

Pills may have helped them mask their problems for a while. But, in the end, smart work and hard work is what completed the trip.

Why don’t we get that?

Bryant has two National Strength and Conditioning Association certifications. Contact him at milo.bryant@gazettedev.gazette.com or read his blog at milobryant .blogspot.com. He appears on KOAA’s Comcast Channel 9 most Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

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