Recommit

"The achievement of your goal is assured the moment you commit yourself to it." ---Mack R. Douglas

I have taken the past week and lived a near normal life in terms of food and beverage. Unfortunately, I have not been able to work out as I am nursing a pulled calf muscle. I have done light walking on the treadmill but have had to limit my walking and stretching to allow this little annoyance to heal. During the week, my food choices were good, but I did indulge in some bad choices. I had a few desserts, okay… several pieces of Thanksgiving pie over the past few days, a little pizza, chicken sandwich from Wendy’s and the mother of all bad foods… Movie Theater Popcorn. The saltiness of these foods has me holding a whopping ten pounds of fluid. I know this because of the finger-ring test. Although, I no longer possess a wedding band to test this theory, I do have the vein marker. Just a week ago the veins in the top of my hand and forearm were very pronounced and visible. Today they are somewhat sunken and not so visible. My hands and feet seem to be slightly swollen and it is the salt and retention of water that does this.

I am on vacation for the next nine days and shall once again recommit to my program. I will make a disciplined and conscious effort for no bad food choices for the next two weeks. I aim to lose the ten pounds of fluid retention and lose at least four more pounds before I board an airplane and head to warm climate. I shall board an airplane in frozen Salt Lake City and on December 14th, I will fly South East and land in the beautiful state of Florida. I will spend a few days warming up and getting to know a friend I find very inspiring. It should be the perfect, relaxing, warm environment to unwind and smile. Then I will return to Utah for Christmas with my beautiful children and celebrate with family.

The next three to six months of my life are extremely important. It is within these next three to six months that I begin to lay the foundation for the rest of my life. It is within these three to six months that my journey begins to take on phase two. In the next three or four months, I should be at or very near my weight loss goals and then we transition into a lifetime maintenance program. I am excited and optimistic for the next three to six months. I see great challenges and additional trials already stacking up, but these will define my legacy and me. It is within these additional challenges that I see and know are coming that will prove or disprove if I am emotionally ready for the journey. My choices over the months to come will hopefully determine a life filled with passion, love of life, financial security, amazing relationships, inspiration and compassion. I told a friend today that in order to live the life we desire, we must clean up the life we made. I choose to do it with kindness, calmness, patience, understanding and compassion.

Once again, I stand in a position of redefining my why. My why is what propels me to do the difficult. My why has to be constantly adapting to remain strong and powerful. As we progress and reach mini goals, we must change our why to propel or push us to reach new goals. Losing 200 pounds requires that your why changes frequently to create urgency and powerful visions. The past week of backing off my program and exercise was enjoyable, however; I realize that if we are not constantly moving forward, we begin falling backward. I lived the past, it was not what I thought it was going to be. Now, it is time to keep moving forward and design, plan and create the present and future. Keep moving forward with ever changing goals and the why to propel you to those goals. Be mindful of the past, live by design in the present; enjoy the life you design in the future.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now." ---Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"A person with half volition goes backwards and forwards, but makes no progress on even the smoothest of roads." ---Thomas Carlyle

"All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first." ---Ralph Waldo Emerson