I don't ever make a PLAN to cheat or splurge or fail or fall. I'd even go so far to say, I don't advise that you do either. HOWEVER, this is your journey and we all have to make the choices that work the best for us. It's wise to always ask yourself, "Does this decision support or oppose my primary choice--to get healthy and transform my life?"
As I told a dear friend this week when he asked if I ever just eat potatoes and cookies, "I can't do it. I'm too fragile." Know yourself. For me, having "just one" is like asking a recovering alcoholic if he ever has an occasional drink. There's nothing wrong with a drink...for many people. But for some, it's a hazard.
In full disclosure, I struggled a lot this weekend. I had an EXTREMELY stressful event on Friday night that just sent me down a bad path. Remember, I have habits that are run deep too. My response to the stress was not wise.
But what do we do when we fall down? We get back up. A runner cannot win a race looking behind him. He also cannot win it laying on the ground.
Here's something to think about (especially as we anticipate the Winter Olympics starting soon!):
THE SECRET TO WINNING IS FINISHING THE RACE
While reading "Loving God with All Your Mind" last weekend, Elizabeth George was helping me understand the importance of running the race in a forward motion.
She was recounting the Winter Olympics many years ago where figure skater after figure skater fell during their routine. These were the BEST skaters in the WORLD and every single skater fell--some three times or more. But every single one of them got up and continued their routine to the end. They didn't stay down. They were there to perform and to finish their routine--a routine they had spent years training to skate. That year, EVERY skater that was awarded a medal had fallen. But they were standing on an Olympic platform with a medal around their neck. Why did they get such an honor? Because they got back up and finished their routine.
I can't win a medal if I fall and stay down.
I can't cross the finish line and reach my goal if I quit.
Will I fall? Oh yes. But as the chief research scientist for General Motors said, "The enthusiast fails forward."
Amy Carmichael was a pioneer missionary to India. One day she prayed, "Father, I'm not soaring today. Help me!" In her writings, Miss Carmichael pens her Heavnly Father's response, "Daughter, soaring is not always flying high above the world. Sometimes one is soaring only two feet above the ground, just enough to keep you from getting tangled in the thorns and crashing against the rocks."
Some days, feel like I am only soaring above the rocks. I've felt a little tired, haven't wanted to run, worn down...only able to even limp or stagger along. Yet, on such days, I need to keep facing forward!
WE WILL WIN THIS RACE...
This is taken from an excerpt of a chapter I wrote in an upcoming book entitle "Movement is Medicine: Women Determined to Rise"? To read my chapter, click HERE.
Fishs Eddy, one of my favorites stores in the Flatiron District of New York City, has a whole line of plates and bowls with the most awesome sayings on them. These are the dessert plates! I am so getting this dish set some day!
Making a Million Choices
How did your week go? Well...I cheated. I totally fell off the wagon.
As a health coach, I hear it ALL the time!
I'm a firm believer in the way we talk to ourselves. Our words matter. Whether we are speaking them to others or talking to ourselves. So, maybe...and I could be wrong about this, but I don't think I am...it would be more helpful to be honest about what has happened.
When I think of my "bad days" or "off-plan" days as "cheating", I suppose I'm right--in that I have cheated myself. But I think, in the past, when I've said I cheated it meant something different. It means I've done something sneaky and underhanded. That the food called to me and I just couldn't do anything but eat it. Cheating gives the power to the food and strips the power from me.
We each have the power to make decisions in our lives. When you make a choice--healthy or unhealthy--own it. You have the ability to make whatever choice you want to make. That's why you always here me saying, "I'm not going to tell you what to eat or not to eat. I'll provide you with all the resources for you to make good choices."
When we accept that what we eat or how we choose to move our bodies is OUR choice, then it also empowers us to think differently. It empowers me to SEE the choices in front of us and to be more deliberate about making them.
TWO PLATES
IMAGINE: There are always two plates in front of you!
Plate #1 has that handful of goldfish crackers on it (or chocolate cake or the scraps of my kid's PB&J or yofro--you name it, whatever your "thing" is).
Plate #2 has all of my dreams for my future on it. This is why I always have my vision board in front of me...because it is my second plate, ALWAYS! And I need to see it in front of me, just like I see the tempting food.
We only get to choose one plate.
We can only choose one plate, because at this time--if we want to lose weight and get healthy (which most of us do on here...only a few of us are already in a very healthy place with our body and mind), then those two plates oppose each other. The goldfish crackers, small and insignificant as they are, keep us from my goals and dreams.
When we see our moment by moment decisions as our choice, then even when we make a foolish choice, we know that we also have the power to make MORE choices. Thankfully, it isn't our LAST choice. We get to make lots more choices. So, we can make the next one a better choice. And the next one. Take it one choice at a time.
Looking at it this way has personally helped me to choose what I REALLY want--to get healthy, to run with my kids, to wear that cute outfit, to get those high boots up over my calves, to live like a healthy person, to prevent myself from being diabetic or having heart disease, to be FREE to be the woman I was created by God to be.
I don't want to get to the end of my choice and see the words "Big Mistake"--but, even if I do--there are a million more opportunities to make a better choice.
How did your week go?
Great--I made a million choices, one at a time. And I chose my dreams!
