Change and Fog...

There's my line-up for what I used to think was an awesome daily menu! Breakfast- a McCafe Caramel Frappe (small-sized, of course, I mean I WAS watching my figure). Lunch - A Subway Sandwich with a bag of Baked Lays chips (again, THOUGHT I was being healthy with that choice). On the way home - A small M&M McFlurry...sometimes we'd throw in some hot fudge because, well we had a Subway Sandwich for lunch so we DESERVED this treat, right? My favorite supper at home -- Frozen Pizza! Yeah, I'd eat a good half of it, or more. The calorie intake on this would be around 2,700 for the day. Coulda' done worse (Andrea may have winced at that use of grammar), I know, but that's still not a menu I am proud to say that I enjoyed. And I'm not going to lie right now and say that those pictures don't look appetizing. Because they do! If I were alone in my office right now, I might even lick the screen! But....today is not yesterday. Now my calorie intake has averaged around 700-1,300 calories per day. And I'm very satisfied with our meal choices. I get fuller on the healthy choices. I feel better about what we eat. There's no "walk of shame" to the trash can to throw away an empty McFlurry container. I'm not saying you need to give up all those treats you used to enjoy...I don't plan  on that. But act smarter. Count them in to your daily calorie intake. Burn them off in the gym. And move on!

Fog

There are three components in life that drive us to change. Fear. Obligation. Guilt. Otherwise known as FOG. Even in this weigh loss challenge we are driven by FOG. FEAR of letting down our teammates, letting down our family, falling into old unhealthy habits, looking like a failure in our community, destroying our bodies. There is a lot of FEAR involved any time you take on change. OBLIGATION to others who have taken this journey with us. An OBLIGATION to our family to be healthier because if WE are healthy, our families will be healthy. An OBLIGATION to ourselves to be the best we can be. And GUILT. GUILT that if we slip up and take steps backwards, we will hurt our teammates chances of a good week. GUILT when we look at our bodies and think about the destructive behaviors we've had in the past. WE did this to ourselves. No one else. GUILT that we haven't done all we could in the past.

So, you can either see this FOG that we do to ourselves day in and day out as a negative force holding you down, OR, you can embrace it as a valuable motivational tool. This FOG can be your security blanket as you take this journey...something that you wrap around yourself to protect yourself from temptations and negativity. Instead of being afraid of failing, acknowledge the fear and use it as a way to measure your growth. Example -- "Yesterday I was afraid I would be tempted by the candy jar at work....but I made it all day without dipping into it! I beat that fear!" Don't see your OBLIGATIONS as negative things that hold you down, but rather springs to propel you forward. "I can do this because I have an obligation to myself, to my family, to my team, to always be the best I can be." And don't see guilt as something that you look at with disgust. Look it as something that made you how you are today and has give you strength to move forward. "I used to spend my evenings on the couch watching TV, but now I workout for an hour and this has give me more energy to do more for myself and my family."


(RAMBLING WARNING AHEAD: I'm not sure this is going to make sense but I'm going to try it anyway.)
I think it is very important to separate your emotions in your head from your taste buds in your mouth. There is a lot of negative FOG in emotional eating. Find a way to make it positive FOG for emotional living instead. Attach those feelings you get when you eat where they belong, not on your plate.

Change --- whether it be big or little - is something unnatural for humans to accept. It can swirl us with a lot of negative FOG. I'm asking you today to be super-human. Change something unhealthy in your life and move forward!