A Little Perspective on Cheating

Every now and then, it's fun for me to re-read some of my old blogs, dating back to my earliest days on Take Shape for Life.  When I started on this plan on June 24, 2007, I weighed 260 pounds and wore a tight 24W.  I was pretty skeptical that this plan would work, mostly because nothing else ever had.  Still, I was hopeful and decided to chronicle my journey through blogging.

I thought some of you might enjoy a peek into my brain back on August 17, 2007, about seven weeks into the program, when I posted this blog:

"Most of us are on this program because we have tried and failed on multiple other diets.  I know I have, and I've always "cheated" on every other diet I've ever been on.  Sometimes I would almost smirk to someone that I was on such-and-such a diet, but decided "today" to cheat.  As if I thought it was funny, or smart, or justified.

When we cheat on a diet, exactly who do we think we're cheating on?  The diet?  The diet doesn't care what we do!  We're cheating ourselves from the privilege of getting healthy, we're cheating ourselves from being able to fully participate in life, we're cheating our families from having us healthy.  So if we're going to be honest when we blog about cheating, we'd put in bold letters "I CHEATED MYSELF OUT OF BEING HEALTHY TODAY.  I MADE FOOD CHOICES THAT, IF CONTINUED, WILL GREATLY INCREASE THE CHANCES THAT I WILL DIE PREMATURELY."  Pray tell, what food is really worth that?

I made a commitment before I placed my first order that I would stay on it 100% and not cheat for the first 4 weeks to really give myself a chance to see what my body might actually do if allowed to be on a diet consistently.  It was pretty amazing, actually!  I recommitted when I ordered my second order, and again when I placed my third order.  For me, I cannot justify the expense unless I'm doing the program 100%.  So part of my "no cheat" commitment is financial.

But another part of the commitment is that I am sick to death of being overweight, sick to death of having my weight and the dieting cycle define so much of my life.  Sick to death of knowing all of the statistics about the health risks of obesity and secretly worrying that I'll be a statistic, even while stuffing my face with high calorie, high sugar, high carb and high fat food.  Sick to death of thinking that I can continue to be unwise in my food choices and that it will not eventually catch up to me in the form of diabetes or heart disease.

So today I commit to doing the work required to improve my health - staying 100% on plan, drinking my water, exercising my body - no excuses!  And I will thank God that He's given me yet another opportunity to do the right thing.  I will NOT squander this opportunity!

No excuses.  No cheating.  Not this time."

I wrote this blog 7 weeks into a journey that would take a total of 11 months, so 9 more months of 5&1 were still ahead.  I look back at that time and it was NOT easy, but wow, was it ever WORTH IT! The changes I needed to make didn't happen overnight, but they did happen one day and one choice at a time - and that's just how you'll reach your goal! 

Don't cheat yourself . . . choose wisely :-)