Don’t give in to those thoughts. The ones trying to convince you to wait until another time when things are easier or less busy (they will never be), the ones saying maybe it’s just not going to work for you, the ones telling you maybe you are just going to have to get used to being overweight even though you don’t want to. The sun is shining and it’s a new day. I’m not trying to say it’s time to start over because there is no starting over. I actually don't like that expression: start over. There is no “on the wagon” or “off the wagon.” There is just a path and we walk on it every single day and we keep moving forward. There’s no turning back or do-overs. What we choose to do and which direction we choose to go on the path is a daily decision, an hourly decision. Sometimes we veer in a direction we don’t like, but that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to be stuck there. We can easily make a few changes and our path changes. There is no perfect path. Perfect paths are boring and flat. There is just our path and it is what defines us and where we go. Nobody and no outside force can make us go a direction on the path we don’t want to go. We alone walk our path and we alone are in control. Even if it feels like we aren’t in control, we are. We are allowing our thoughts to tell us we are not in control by ignoring and purposefully choosing to not think about our direction. Because that is easier, at least in the short term. But that doesn’t change the fact that we keep moving forward. So in the long term it becomes stressful and causes guilt because deep in our minds we know we are willfully choosing to ignore the issue as if that will make it go away. It never does. Instead it builds and can cause us to deviate further from our desired path because we create more and more excuses and avoidance mechanisms. These can go so deep that we even start lying to ourselves because believing we are not in control (that someone or something else is causing our situation) is easier on our ego. Don’t give in to those thoughts. Our thoughts only drive our actions if we allow them and we have the right to question our thoughts. We have to perform checks on ourselves. Are we letting our ego get the best of us? Are we lying to ourselves or making excuses? You can make a change. I have seen it hundreds of times and I truly believe (despite it being cliché) that we can accomplish anything we set our mind to. I know it is possible to finally lose the weight and you do too. Don’t count 2018 out yet. I am not ever giving up on you and I humbly request that you do the same.
