(150) WowWowWow!!!

I had an absolutely awesome weekend!!! If you read my post from Friday, you know that I attended a workshop as an assistant this weekend. Its a workshop that I originally attended about 5 years ago, and once you've attended, you are encouraged to come back and assist to keep your momentum going and to share your learning experience with the new students. I've done this a number of times, and each time I do, I am amazed at how much I learn and how far I've come since my first class.

This weekend, the piece of the course that really hit home for me was about empowerment. Specifically, that
I am EMPOWERED by my CHOICES!!

Now, before you start thinking about how cliche' that sounds, lets talk a little bit about that. When it comes to weight loss, it is precisely the "choices" that you make that determine your success or failure. The word "choice" implies some kind of action, and action in the right direction is exactly what will get you where you want to go: toward a healthier you. You are not EMPOWERED by your decisions, you are not empowered by you opinions, you are not empowered by what you daydream about, talk about, or bitch about. You are ONLY empowered by your actions, and you cannot act without making a choice.

Alan's email this morning to his Phase 4 participants talked about the tendency to brood over how we got fat, how we bitch about the things in our lives that cause us mental stress with the subsequent "eating to stuff feelings" behavior, and the cheating we do because we "just can't help ourselves". He rounds out his encouragement by simply stating "...move forwar, follow the plan...".

And moving requires making a choice. You're not gonna run that 5k without making the choice to get up off your butt and start putting one foot in front of the other. Go visit Kelly and see all the great things she has accomplished by doing just that! The amazing part about Kelly is that she "just decides". She doesn't always know whether she'll complete the goal, or how she will complete it, but she just makes the decision to get up and get going. And you know what happens? She does it. She chooses. And she has become very empowered!!

You're not gonna lose inches and pants-sizes by eating nachos instead of a low-fat turkey sandwich. You're not going to get to goal weight by "splurging a little bit here and a little bit there". You will lose the inches and the pants sizes by CHOOSING the path to health. By CHOOSING to drink water instead of pop. By CHOOSING to put down the pizza and eat the salad instead.

CHOOSING is the requirement for being empowered. Choosing is an action. You can decide in your mind all day long that you want to be thinner, that you want to be healthier. But its the choices you make that will get you there. CHOICES ARE ACTIONS.

I AM EMPOWERED BY MY CHOICES!!!

Read that line again. And this time, put the emphasis on the word "I".

Now read it again with the emphasis on "empowered".

Now read it again with the emphasis on "my".

Now read it one more time with the emphasis on "choices".

Now, stand up from your computer and yell that last line at the top of your lungs. Seriously. Do it. Yell it 5 or 6 times and move the emphasis around.

Now yell it with your fists raised!

Now yell it with joy and exuberation!

Now yell it one more time, fists in the air, and jumping up and down.

......WHEW!!!.....

Wow!! Didn't that feel great!!! Doesn't that statement alone make you feel more powerful, more capable?

You did do it, didn't you?

Go ahead, try it. Seriously!! If you have to wait until no one is home, then do so. But I really, REALLY think you should do this. What have you got to lose?

And if you try it, send me a comment and tell me how it made you feel.