Tons or Ounces?

Life isn't easy.  Every day we are faced with dozens of choices and many of those choices are difficult.  This time of year, for those of us committed to either getting to or maintaining a healthy weight, the difficulty in making the right choices is increased a hundred-fold, and sometimes we may wonder if the struggle is worth the pain we're feeling.  I recently read a quote from Jim Rohn that addresses this question:  "We must all suffer from one of two pains:  the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons."

Having experienced both the pain of discipline and the pain of regret (LOTS of regret . . . ), I can tell you from first-hand experience that I'd much rather carry the weight of discipline!  In the moment, it's always easier to make the wrong choice because the wrong choice invariably is the one based on immediate gratification.  We get a quick rush of good feelings or perhaps even euphoria when we go for the instant gratification.  The problem is that the rush is almost always quickly followed by lots of regret and self-recrimination.  The good feelings we had as we were eating the off-plan food are gone almost as soon as the last bite is swallowed and in their place are thoughts of "I just blew it . . . I can't believe I ate all of that . . . I'm so weak . . . I'll never reach my goal . . . it's hopeless . . . "  My experience is that the regret always outweighs the brief satisfaction I had, and it lasts MUCH longer.  In the past, that regret usually led to another round of going for immediate gratification to make me feel better temporarily, followed by another round of regret.  Blech!

There is certainly pain in discipline, but it's short-lived.  At the point of making the decision, there can be a real struggle in saying "no" to something we really want.  For me, there have been times when it felt like it took everything in me to walk away from the temptation.  But when I DID walk away . . . when I DO walk away . . . the pain of saying "no" is immediately replaced with a rush of relief and joy that I didn't give in.  When I was on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 and successfully faced up to a food temptation, the relief and joy that followed was a reminder to me that I would have felt awful if I'd given in.  The next time a temptation came up (and temptations were everywhere, especially during the holiday season), I remembered how wonderful I felt when I'd walked away and that helped to give me the strength I needed to do so again.  As I've shared in the past, I also recognized my own weakness and drew heavily on my Heavenly Father for the strength I needed to walk away.

Tons or ounces . . . what do you want to carry today?  The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)