The battle of the bulge all comes down to choice. It’s not a matter of good versus evil or even will power. It’s a matter of simply choosing. This or that. This… but not that. This and that. So it goes around and around in a never ending cycle.

I was a famous weight loss procrastinator. Why do today what you can put off for tomorrow, right? My life as far as dieting and weight loss was concerned was always wrapped up in four little words: I’ll do it tomorrow or in the later years… “I’ll start tomorrow”. The best day to start a diet? Monday. In my world, Monday was the start of the week and so therefore, the very best day to start a diet. I felt at one time that it was almost sacrilegious to start a diet on a Wednesday (mid-week) or Tuesday (the not-Monday). It’s as if I felt that by starting on Monday– I was giving myself the very best chance possible to make good choices and start the week off right.

What I didn’t realize back then? Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and so on … were all the same. Another day of making bad choices and convincing myself that the following Monday things would change. They would be different. I would be different. But years worth of Mondays flew by and the number of pounds to lose increased. Monday wasn’t my only excuse. I also had an excuse lined up for holidays, birthdays, weddings, funerals, exams, graduation, life. The excuses didn’t stop. Until one day they did.

One day, I decided to choose differently. And I did. At first I made a small change– walking every night and cutting out fast food and excessive bread. Once I had that routine down pat and my confidence grew, I ventured into other things (bike riding — traveling). I had finally come to a point where I felt good making the right choice. The sacrifice didn’t seem like such a sacrifice. A half hour to an hour out of my day didn’t seem like so much time. It was ME time. As I continued to pursue better health and a better life, the pounds fell away. People complimented me… noticed me. The world around me seemed brighter. I was the happiest I had ever been. I felt empowered.

I lost 60-70 pounds that summer. It was the best summer of my life.

Going through this journey a second time I find myself taking time to enjoy every little milestone. Do I want to choose better and eat healthy for the rest of my life? Do I want to get an hour of exercise a day? Do I want to stretch in the morning and drink green tea to start out my day? You betcha. Because living life making good choices and trying to improve the overall quality of my life IS important to me. I don’t want to spend another moment… hating myself and then punishing myself by making bad choices.

Living life and feeling good about yourself is not up to destiny. It’s a choice.