Wednesday, May 30, 2007

What are you willing to do?

Really, it's a very simple question, isn't it?

What are you willing to do in order to improve the quality of your life?

Notice that I did not say "lose weight." That's just a nice side effect of a new approach to living. (I'm down 53 pounds so far, if you must know! However, the physical change is more dramatic than the number suggests because I am building lean muscle and reducing my overall body fat percentage.)

That's the question I ask myself every morning. At a minimum. Sometimes I ask myself the same question a number of times throughout the day, depending on whether it is a good day, judged from the perspective of making good choices for myself or, as I wrote about in my last post, a challenging one.

Over at Tales from the Scales, yesterday was weigh-in day and a lot of the participants were discouraged. For one thing, we just had a three-day, holiday weekend. Moreover, the "newness" and novelty of a revised eating plan is wearing off for some of the folks who signed on, I believe.
It's just how I live now . . . it's not a diet.
One of the blog authors suggested that this week participants consider their answer to this question: "What are you going to do differently this week?" In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with that approach and I hope it works for a lot of people.

However, I do not include the last three words when I analyze my own willingness to remain committed to the plan I have developed for myself. Why?

Because I am not on a diet. I have changed my life. Therefore, the question is open-ended . . . not limited to an hour, part of a day, one whole day, a week, a month or even a year. The changes I have made must be permanent. My plan has to just be "how I live" for the remainder of my life. It is the only way I can retain the benefits I am already enjoying . . . and continue to reap more.



add to sk*rt


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