My War Against Weight – Episode 4: Roadblocks to Wellness
Excuses. We’ve all used them. I’m too tired to work out. I don’t have time. Eating healthy is expensive. Diet starts tomorrow. It is so easy to push off what’s perceived to be a difficult task to the next day, then the next and so on. In the meantime our lifestyles of convenience continue to harm our bodies and prevent us from achieving a healthy state of wellness.
Scheduling our daily activities is simply an exercise in setting priorities. Family. Work. Social life. These things all take up our precious time. Where can we squeeze wellness in? But once you realize how critical your wellness is, it’s really easy to bump it up on the priority scale and take the necessary time for it each day. Without wellness, all other commitments in our lives can no longer be attended to. Not to sound like a TV commercial but:
- If you get sick, you can’t work
- If you can’t work, you don’t get paid
- If you don’t get paid, you can’t take care of your girlfriend
- If you don’t take care of your girlfriend, you will die alone
You see where this is going. But if we make wellness as high a priority as everything else we deal with, it’s not so difficult to make it a bigger part of your life. You think gym fees and healthy foods are expensive? How much are you spending on eating out and partying? Working out takes too much time? How much time do you spend on the couch watching TV? Need to spend time with your family? Go out and do a physical activity with them.
One of the things I learned recently is that most of the choices we make in life are either a step forward or a step back on the road to wellness. This really helped me put things into perspective each time I was faced with a wellness related issue. If I avoid excess carbs for a week that leaps me forward to better wellness. If I eat a Snickers bar, that minute of sugary satisfaction will feel great, but will take me back a few steps. Going to gym? Take another jump forward. Chug down a six pack at a party? Take a few jumps back. Realizing that each decision I make dictates my position on the wellness scale really helped me to put my decisions into perspective. As a result I occasionally allow myself to take a few small steps backward as long as I know that overall I continue to trudge forward in the right direction. Every step in the right direction, even baby ones, will get you closer and closer to wellness.
Goal: Lose 10 pounds in 5 weeks
Weight Lost Week 4: 1.5 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 5.7 pounds
Challenges This Week: I fortunately bounced back this week but not as much as I wanted to. It was tough to eat clean with my father’s 70th birthday party as well as his Father’s Day celebration the next day. I have more than four pounds to lose this final week in order to reach my goal. Can I do it? Check in next week to see!
Next Week: The Final Outcome
More Posts: My War Against Weight
My War Against Weight – Episode 0
My War Against Weight – Episode 1: Why?
My War Against Weight – Episode 2: Food = Fuel
My War Against Weight – Episode 3: Let’s Get Physical
