Interested or Committed?

One of the fun things my husband and I do is host monthly get-togethers for people in our area who are on Take Shape for Life/Medifast.  It's fun to get together with everyone and celebrate their progress.  Our last meeting was this past Tuesday night and my husband talked about the difference between being interested in losing weight/getting healthy and being committed to doing so.

Almost everyone is interested in losing weight and being as healthy as possible, but far fewer individuals are committed to actually doing it.  So how can you tell if you're interested or committed?  You look at your behavior and the choices you make.  Here are a few examples my husband shared:

Interested: "Well, it's just a little bite; I've been good - it won't hurt."
Committed:  "I'm prepared for any event. I know I can take my food anywhere and be happy.  Nothing tempts me because I've already decided."

Interested:  "It's my birthday (anniversary, vacation, girls' night out . . . pick an event).  You don't expect me to stay true through that, do you?"
Committed:  "I will have my sparkling water with lime in a fancy glass and feel like I'm included in any social situation."

Interested:  "I'm not really hungry, so I won't eat all my meals.  I may lose even faster.  I'm TRYING to drink enough water, but I don't like water so I don't always get my water in."
Committed:  "I know if I'm true to this program, it's easy to do.  There is NO way I'm veering from the plan.  Nothing is worth messing this up!"

Interested:  "WOW - I can eat anything I want when I reach my goal if it's this easy to lose again!  I'm not going to bother with Transition or the Maintenance plan!"
Committed:  "What else is there for me to learn to make sure this weight loss sticks?"

It's easy for us to think that we're committed to losing weight, but if we take a close (and honest) look at our actions, we'll quickly be able to determine if we're truly committed or just interested.  I spent a lot of years telling myself that I was committed to losing weight, but my actions told an entirely different story.  I wanted to lose weight - absolutely! - but I was far from committed because I repeatedly refused to take the actions I needed to take and make the hard choices I needed to make in order to accomplish what I said was my goal.

What about you?  Are you interested or committed?  I hope you're committed!!  If so, then your actions will support your commitment.  It's one day and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)