Friday, August 10, 2007

Taking ownership....

Own it. Whatever it is, own it. It seems like we are so determined to find someone or something to blame our situation on, other than ourselves. In some situations that's really the truth. When it comes to being overweight, after the age of about, say 15, it's so far from it. I see people say things all the time to "explain" why they are heavy. My parents were fat. My parents were dieters and I developed food issues. The dining hall at college adds hidden fat to everything. There is fast food on every corner. Healthy food is more expensive. All of those, while they may help explain why we made the choices we did to get fat, push all the responsibility off to someone or something else. Newsflash: I'm fat because I eat too much and don't exercise enough. It's really that simple. Yes, there are certain health conditions that make it easy to gain weight. There are some medications that make you gain weight. I'm not talking to people who take steriods here. I'm talking to the majority of us who have only to look to ourselves for getting fat. It was ME who made put the food in my mouth and ME who sat and watched endless hours of television instead of taking a walk.
So why do I think it's so important to take ownership for how we got here? Because if we can't own up to the choices we made to get us to this point, how can we really own the choices we're making to become fit and healthy? By not owning up to it, it's like we've handed the control of our destiny to someone or something else. I think that's a set up for failure. I see people say they fell off program because a co-worker has a candy dish at their desk. Or somebody brought in donuts one morning. Well that's fine, they make their own choices. But unless they tied you up and force fed you the candy and donuts, it's not THEIR fault. (I hate the word fault, but it is appropriate). It was OUR choice. If we OWN the choice, we have the power over what our weight loss destiny is.
I also think ownership is important in whether we feel deprived or not. How many times has somebody watched you pass up an unhealthy food choice and say to you "Oh, you cant' have that"? I hear it a lot. And I smile and say, "as a matter of fact, I CAN have it. I chose not to have it." There is a HUGE difference in feeling this cosmic force is keeping you from having something. It just makes you want it more. But when you chose not to have it, knowing you full well can, how empowering is that?
I could really go on for hours about this. And if by some stroke of lucky anybody is actually reading this, they're probably thinking 'shut up, bitch!" So I guess I'll shut up. But if you ARE reading this, just think about it!

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