Feeding the Dogs

There's no denying it - getting to a healthy weight and maintaining a healthy weight is an ongoing battle.  We are constantly challenged to make wise choices, and the struggle to choose between immediate gratification and what we REALLY want - a healthy body - can be a fierce struggle.  One friend told me that she said she felt like she had an angel sitting on one shoulder and the devil on the other, with each whispering in her ear.  I've had that same feeling and I'm guessing that a lot of you have, too.  We know what we SHOULD do, and perhaps it's what we really WANT to do, but then there's this other voice that says, "just this once won't hurt . . . ".  All of the sudden, the battle is on as two conflicting desires pull us in two different directions.

The battle that wages is about so much more than whether or not we're going to eat something at that particular moment.  The battle that's waging is really the battle between getting healthy and staying overweight/obese.

Take Shape for Life did a lot of wonderful things for me, and I'm continuing to reap so many of the benefits, but it did not cure my obesity.  The plan enabled me to return to a healthy weight and put me on a path towards optimal health, but it did not cure my obesity.  That beast is there, always there, ready, willing and able to rear its ugly head and take over my life if I choose to become mindless about what I eat and do.

Everyday that I make healthy choices is another day that develops the healthy habits I want to keep and develop for the rest of my life.  However, I am aware that the beast is alive - just hungry and underfed at the moment :-).  I'd like to think I could starve it to death, but that's not likely to happen.

I once heard a story about a man who talked about the internal struggle he was having and likened it to a fight between two dogs.  Someone asked him which dog was winning and the man replied, "Whichever one I feed."

Everyday each and every one of us has to face the dog fight yet again.  We're in a battle for our health, and one of the dogs in the fight is named obesity.  This dog may be a little skeletal at the moment because it hasn't been fed in a while, but it's watching in the corner, waiting for an opportune moment.

So every day we plan, and we commit to NOT feeding that dog today!  Every day I realize all over again that I CANNOT do this on my own and ask my Heavenly Father for a fresh measure of His grace and strength.  And every day that I do that - and every day that each of us makes a commitment to making the sometimes hard choices - is another day that moves us a bit closer to a healthier you and me.

Which dog are you going to feed today?  The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)