If you've ever studied history, watched the evening news or listened to grandpa tell stories, you know that wars can last a long time. It can take decades to win the battle. It's an ongoing fight that has its shares of ups and downs, wins and losses. Sometimes it can be years before you can safely wave that flag and proclaim victory.
It's the same thing with a diet. Here I am almost a year later, still counting grapes and measuring oats and throwing out perfectly good birthday cake. Here I am - still craving nachos, cheesecake and whatever special two-tiered gooey-sauced sandwich that McD's is bragging about on their marquee.
Here I am- still suffering from back fat, arm wings as big as a condor and that darn waist Python that refuses to be tucked in, sucked in or disguised.
And yet, every single day I wake up and imagine my meals for the day. They are modest. Low calorie. Bird-like and sensible. I tell myself if I follow the plan I can wear that great striped tunic in my closet, something other than three-quarter sleeves in 95degree weather, and look at myself in the mirror when I exit the shower.
But somewhere along the way, I am ambushed. The war is in the other court. Food takes the advantage. I'm faced with bullets of baked goods, shrapnel of spaghetti, mine fields of marshmallow, mayonnaise, mini donuts, Mac and cheese and malts. They hit me so darn hard. Even my extra gut can't deflect the incoming assaults. I feel like sitting in my fox hole -eat that candy bar and taco -and just surrender.
But, we can't. You know we can't. Nothing hard is ever easy. Hmmm...did I say that right? Nothing worth doing is ever done in vain. Or something like that. Our health, our happiness, our self esteem- our future- depends on us fighting this fight with all the gusto and strength and willpower that we can muster!
We can imagine the end. We can dream. But we must take it one day at a time. Be our best. Do what we know is right.
Someday we can raise that flag and everyone will cheer when they see the arm wings have melted, that nasty waist Python has disappeared, the triple ripple neck has returned to a single entity and we no longer need a zip code for our butt! Yay for that day!
So, I stopped in today to say-I'm always fighting- and you must, too. The battle is long and hard and never quite fair. But it will be worth it.
Get out of that fox hole and give it all you've got!
