Don’t You Dare Quit!

I know that right now, someone is reading this article that wants to quit trying to be healthy. You have tried and tried, only to come to yourself half way through a brand new carton of ice cream that didn’t even make it into the fridge when you unpacked it from the grocery store because the soft part around the edges just kept calling your name, or you caved in and ate the mile high, frosting bomb cupcakes that a saboteur left at your workstation on the job. That was then. This is now. Today really is the first day of the rest of your life. Make it good, It’s up to you.

How Do I Know?

That’s an old picture but you can see that it is me. I have some pictures that people don’t even believe are me but this one shows my “girth” pretty good. While I am far from skinny now, I am a healthy power builder at age 63 and I have a defined waistline and I weigh about 60 pounds less now. I was addicted to sugar my entire life before coming to David’s Way. Although my weight fluctuated, I would always regain the lost pounds in just a few short weeks or months because I would eat more and more sugar until I thought that I couldn’t go through the day without cake or ice cream. Nobody loves that poison more than I did. I promise you. If I can get control of my eating, so can you.

But How?

First of all, decide right now if you truly want to lose weight. If you don’t want to lose those extra pounds, no amount of encouragement or money spent will do it for you.  This website is free. We have the Calorie Counter Pro that can help you figure out how many calories to eat. Cut out added sugar and eat whole foods within your calorie allowance. Visit our Home Page to read all about us. We do this because we believe that people can be so much healthier than they are, overall. As a population, our habits are killing us. Before beginning any weight loss program always consult your physician.

Stronger Than You Know

A common response that I hear when talking with people about weight issues is “But losing weight is HARD!” Well, yes, it is. However, I know very young people who have life-threatening health issues that their physicians have told them would be helped by weight loss. The conditions that they live with are also very hard. They spend countless dollars on medical costs and have a quality of life that is way below what they should have at their young ages. Of all of the young people that I know who are dealing with these problems ranging from fatty liver to sleep apnea bad enough to warrant a pacemaker in a 20 year old, only one of these precious young people is actively trying to improve her health. She knows who she is and she has my utmost respect. After losing 35 pounds with more to go, she is pressing forward. Guess what. It’s hard for her too but she is doing it. Like me, she loves to eat and likes about everything. She has abandoned her Deep South sweet tea habit and is conscientious about everything that she eats. It’s work and she’s doing the work. She’s listening to her doctor and her health is slowly improving. Although she has found the journey difficult at times, she is into her third month of improved nutrition and it’s becoming natural to seek out healthy options. She had the strength to do this all along but she didn’t find it until she made the decision that she wanted to improve her health. With rare exception, we are born with the strength to accomplish whatever we need to accomplish, like the “Prego” spaghetti sauce commercial, “It’s In There!”

Take Care of Yourself

We are given this one body. It will be our place to live as long as we inhabit this Earth. Do you want a highly functional, clean, healthy place to live or do you want a shell of a human body, riddled by sickness and pain? While everything that can bring suffering to a human being is not entirely within our control, so many of those things are greatly affected by our decisions. The list of diseases and disorders that are adversely affected by overweight, obesity and poor nutrition is endless. You have heard the adage, “You are what you eat.” Well, guess what. Most of the time, we are exactly that. We also need rest and exercise and a low stress environment. If there’s too much stress in your life, figure out where it’s coming from and fix it. I’m not telling you to do anything that I have not done and continue to do myself. I regularly make all kinds of sometimes drastic, life-altering changes to decrease stress in my life. Some of those changes have made people doubt my sanity, but I have peace in my home. Think what you will. If you don’t take care of yourself, I promise you, no one else will because they can’t. They may do all that they can but only you will decide what you put into your mouth and  how you live. What ends up in your mouth is entirely to your credit or your dismay. When you soar, victorious, into good health it will be your victory alone.

The Hard Times

When you decide to get healthy and leave some bad habits behind, there will be moments of great difficulty and even sadness as you part with your substitutes for real life and fulfillment. The substances, people and habits that drag us down that we keep going back to are just that, substitutes for true peace. As long as we have no control over our actions we are unstable, and instability is a hard way to live. In an unstable environment we are always trying to find a balance that forever eludes us. As we long for our heart’s desire more and more and our habits move us farther and farther away from it, we become double-minded. A life filled with the contradiction of who and what we want to be and who and what we make ourselves is almost unbearable. Again, how do I know? I’ve been there. Although a great deal of effort goes into my health initiative now, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I haven’t missed a day of work in years and I am the sole supporter of my household, working full-time at an age where many are living on Social Security. I have a special needs family member and two dogs. I keep a hectic pace and still lift heavy weights four days per week and walk as much as the weather allows. The hard times pay off. If you have hard times because you’re unable to work or your health fails due to your habits, that’s a whole different kind of hard. Usually it’s entirely up to you. Choose your hard. Choose wisely. You will live, or die, with that decision.