Prisoners or Pioneers?

"Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask yourself if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future."  I really liked this quote and think it is a great question to ask ourselves.

Our "same old way" reactions are pretty much knee-jerk.  If we don't stop for a second before we react, we will most likely react the way we always do.  For those of us who are emotional eaters, the "same old way" means that under stress, or when we're bored, upset, tired, etc., our instinctive response is to eat.  I spent years caught in that cycle and I know that some of you are still struggling to break free.  That "same old way" reaction has resulted in failed weight loss attempts over and over again.  We want to lose weight and we've started every weight loss plan with the intention that "this is IT, this is the diet that's going to finally work."  We never started a new diet with the expectation that we'd fail, but we DID fail.  Sometimes the diet was the reason, because we were trying some fad thing that clearly wasn't sustainable over time.  Because it was a crash diet and not designed to teach us new, healthier patterns, we'd unwittingly set ourselves up for failure.  Throw in our "same old way" reactions and it's no wonder some of us have been trapped in a miserable cycle for so many years.

But now we're on the right program.  Take Shape for Life isn't a diet - we're on an optimal health program that is designed to get us quickly and safely to a healthy weight and teach us the healthy habits we need to stay there.  This is a program that can help us to leave the "same old way" behind and truly put us on the path to a healthier and longer life.

The problem with being a pioneer is that pioneers are breaking new ground and going places they've never gone before.  This can be scary, because it is venturing into the unknown.  Being a pioneer means developing new skill sets and it means leaving old habits behind.  It means that when we are on the verge of reacting in the same old way, we take a moment to Stop - Challenge (identify what we're feeling and why we're feeling it) - and Choose.  This can take just a minute or two, but doing that can be the key to moving from a prisoner to a pioneer.

Are you ready to be a pioneer this morning and continue moving towards a healthier, longer life?  If so, focus on what you want and then choose wisely :-)