Do You Really Want To?

Do you want to get to a healthy weight?  Do you want to stay at a healthy weight for the rest of your life?

This seems like an obvious question, doesn't it?  And I hate it when people ask obvious questions (makes me wonder if they think I'm stupid or something . . . ).  But I'm asking this question today because I think it's an important question to ask.

One book I really like is, "At His Feet" by Chris Tiegreen.  One of the devotional readings in this book is based on the story of Jesus healing a man who had been an invalid for 38 years.  When Jesus approached the man, He asked the man, "Do you want to get well?"  Interestingly, the man didn't respond, "Well, of course!"  Instead, he offered an excuse (the entire story can be found in John 5:1-15 if you want to read the entire account).

The writer of the devotion noted that as much as we think we want to change, we're comfortable with the status quo.  The man may have been tired of being an invalid, but he also may have feared the changes in his life that being healed would bring.  So Jesus asked what seems to be an obvious question, "Do you want to get well?"

Our problem is that all too often we want change, but we don't want TO change.  At least that's true for me :-).  I want to keep doing what I've always done, but get better results!  Unfortunately, that happens to be the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results . . . ).

We know we SHOULD lose weight, and perhaps we even want to lose weight, sort of.  But things come up that are more important to us that getting to a healthy weight and we cheat.  Or perhaps losing weight makes people begin to notice us, and that makes us uncomfortable, so we start sabotaging ourselves.  Status quo can be a pretty comfortable and safe place to be sometimes, even if we know it's not healthy in the long run.

So the question needs to be asked, and I ask it respectfully:  Do you want to get to a healthy weight and stay there?  If you do, you are on the right program to get you there.  You have a lot of wonderful tools to help you each step of the way and there is an amazing amount of support available.  The program is a proven program - the only variable is you.  If you work the program, it works!  If you don't work the program, it doesn't work.

As I've shared before, for me the food part of this program was the easy part.  The really, really hard part was the head and the heart part, because I had to change in pretty fundamental ways how I thought and felt about food.  I had to end a long relationship with food, and that was not an easy task.  What made this time different than all of the other bazillion times I'd tried in the past was that this time I finally, really wanted to change.

I hope your answer to my question today is a resounding "YES!!!"  But be honest with yourself, and if it's not, spend some time figuring out why.  If you figure out what's holding you back and then take steps to deal with it, you'll eventually be able to answer "YES!", too.  And when you do, you'll reach your goal and stay there!  And you'll reach your goal one day, one meal, and one choice at a time . . . choose wisely :-)