Don't Come Up Short

I spent years not only fooling myself, but trying to fool other people when it came to my weight.  Because I had so much shame and embarrassment about my weight, even getting dressed in the morning was an ordeal. Every outfit had to pass the "does this make me look fat?" question and I required my clothes to do their best to hide the fact that I had packed as much as 268 pounds on my 5'5" frame.  It was a daunting request to make out of every outfit and the fact that I thought some things made me look "thin" probably says more about my state of denial than the outfit itself.

For several years, I refused to get on the scale at the doctor's office.  A nurse practitioner had once chided me for skipping my yearly well-woman exam and when I told her it was because I didn't want to get on the scale, she told me that I didn't have to be weighed if I didn't want to and urged me to not skip this check-up because of the scale.  For this person in denial, that was my "get out of jail free" card and I pulled it out every time I saw the doctor.

I tried to hide my weight from my friends and even from my doctor, but I wasn't kidding my body - and my body was keeping tally of what I was doing to it.  The bill came due in September of 2005 when routine blood work revealed that I was now diabetic, with very high cholesterol and triglycerides.

This quote really puts it into perspective:  "If you don't do what is best for your body, you are the one who comes up on the short end."  ~ Julius Erving

When we choose to not take care of our bodies, we are ultimately the ones who come up short.  When I wasn't eating right, when I wasn't exercising, I was only hurting myself.  Every time I would cheat on a weight loss program (and until I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast I cheated - repeatedly - on every last program I ever went on), I was really only cheating myself and my body was keeping a running tally.

Turning things around and permanently moving in a new direction begins with being truthful with ourselves about where we are - getting a clear picture of our current reality.  How much do we weight?  What size are we in?  What are the things we can't do, or can't do comfortably, because of our weight?  What medications are we on due to weight-related conditions?  How would we have answered these questions five years ago?  Are we in better or worse shape now than we were then?  If we continue to do in the next five years what we've done over the past five, where will we be five years from now?  Are we OK with that?

Those may be hard questions to ask, but if you ask yourself those questions and answer them honestly, you'll have a clear picture of where you are right now.

Then imagine yourself at your goal weight.  How much will you weigh?  What size will you be?  How will you feel?  What will you be able to do?  Get a clear vision of what that will look and feel like.

What you have just done is created structural tension, which is the gap between where you are and where you want to be.  Tension seeks resolution, so focus your eyes on what you want to create in your life, then begin making the choices to get there.  You will move from where you are to where you want to be one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)