A Great Investment

Getting to a healthy weight is a journey of weeks for some and of months for others, but even if you have a lot of weight to lose, it's a relatively short journey.  I say that as someone who spent 10 months and 28 days on 5&1, just under a year of my life invested in getting to a healthy weight and, more importantly, getting healthy. 

To be sure, there were some long days - days when I didn't know how I'd make it through the day on plan (but I did, one meal at a time!).  The months went by very quickly, however, and it was exciting to see the progress as each month passed.

Those months went by fast and the four years since reaching goal have flown by, too.  I look back on those few months invested in getting healthy and realize those months were one of the best investments I've ever made.  In the grand scheme of things, those months were just a blip on the calendar, but what a difference those few months made! 

Medifast's medical director and Take Shape for Life co-founder Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen says "You can spend a little time now getting healthy, or spend ALL of your time later being sick."

Because my health was already on the downturn (diabetes, high cholesterol, gastric reflux and borderline high blood pressure), I realized almost five years ago that I was heading to a place I didn't want to go.  I saw where my mom's health was as a result of her diabetes (which was a result of her weight and eating habits) and I knew that she was a mirror of my future if nothing changed.  Her weekly calendar was often filled with doctor appointments: internal medicine specialist, endocrinologist, ophthalmologist, retinal specialist, renal specialist.  There was a list of doctors who had the challenge of addressing the complications of her diabetes, and going from appointment to appointment took a lot of time (and money).

That's not how I wanted to spend my time and my money as I continued to age, so I made the choice to invest a few short months and took a different, healthier path.  It meant saying "no" to some of the foods I enjoyed, but I was really saying "yes" to a healthy future!

My question for you today is:  Are you willing to invest a short period of time to get healthy?  Your investment is made one day, one meal, and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)