We Make Ourselves What We Are and Will Be...Do You Believe That? If you don't, you're doomed to fail this time, too, at getting fit.

"All change begins with an acknowledgement that the power to transform your life comes from you."

"You need to be convinced you can do it."

"The plain and simple truth is that without the ability to believe in yourself and to translate that belief into ongoing effort and desire, you will go on struggling."

"Who you are, what you are, and where your life is going are all choices."

"The sooner you learn to take responsibility for the choices you make, the thoughts you have, and the attitudes you embrace, the sooner you can have the life you want."
~from The Power of Self-Coaching: The Five Essential Steps to Creating the Life You Want by Joseph J. Luciani

Tanita-San today: 182.2
That's a late weigh-in (4:00pm) and I have not eaten or had anything to drink. So, I assume that's a lot of why it's lower than I expected. But I'm pleased.  I am visualizing the 170s coming closer and closer. :D

Okay, so I've been reading one of my CDCC books. These quotes I used in the start of this entry are scattered, not just on one page or chapter. The writer, I notice is repetitive, so it makes for a bit of boring reading sometimes. But I liked these quotes and chose to share them.

I am about to be repetitive, too. I have said it before on this blog, so I'll say it again: To lose weight and keep it off and get fitter, we must believe we CAN. Individually, each of us must come to the point where we say it and say it and claim it and cling to it:

"I can lose the weight this time. I'll get it off. I'll keep it off. I'll eat right. I'll exercise. And I'll do it as long as I live, not for a short-term crash diet or some passing event. For my health, for life. I can do this. It will be very hard, but it's worth doing, and I am capable of doing something difficult. I am not impotent. I have the power to change."

If we don't believe it, that's when when we go running off looking for magic bullets that will do the work for us. And when the magic bullet fails, we look for another. And another. Because we still don't face the fact that the power is in us. The external things are useful--diet plans, books, therapists, even surgeries. But the power to change is ultimately within us.

The ones who accept this truth--that it's hard, but it can be done and WE CAN DO IT--succeed.

Did we just make a mistake. GET RIGHT BACK UP and get on with it.

Only the ones who aren't committed and don't really believe they can do it will fall down and STAY DOWN. The ones who believe in their ability to change and overcome keep going. Keep going. Keep going.

The ones who keep relying on external forces alone will likely fail. Surgeries can fail and weight be regained. Diets are only as good as our adherence. Gyms are only as good as our attendance and effort. It still comes down to...US.

I have had a hard week. Harder than most of the weeks this year. But I fight the fight with the faith that I will win the battle and the war. I hold on to that faith.

I can do it. I will do it. I am capable of winning this. The power is mine. I wield it. Or I lay it down. But it's mine.

That plate of food is not what controls you. You  make a decision to eat or not. It may have a great deal of power IN YOUR BRAIN--in your mind, in your emotions. But the food itself is powerless unless you give it power by putting it in your mouth. I believe this utterly.

Once a trigger food is in my hand, it has more power, but I have the most.

Once the trigger food is in my mouth, it has gained ground, but I still can spit it out.

Once I swallow it and it's in my system and lighting up my brain with pleasure, I am losing power and it has gained. Who will win? Again...it's up to ME. I can still win. I can still push the rest away, right?

Food is not what is powerful. WE MAKE IT POWERFUL. When we ingest it, we give it the most power over us if it's a food we darn well know we OUGHT NOT HAVE. A trigger, an allergen, a toxin.

But in the end, the power is in us. Our brains. We choose.

We're very foolish if we give the power to the food. It's inert. It lays there until we consume it, minding its own business.

What is powerful are ads in magazines, tv, out in the city. Social situations. Family traditions. Emotions.

So, we find ways to navigate the things that draw us in to take our power away. We learn strategies. And sometimes, we lay those tools down and indulge, because we want the pleasure or the convenience and ease or to rest from the struggles.

But if we're wise, we get back into battle and stop whining.

We're the ones made to be greater than angels. When we eat like uncontrolled beasts, we lose radiance. When we give power to food, we become...less than what we can be.

I know for me, when I avoid the bad stuff, it's way easier to stay on an even keel with my appetite. A calmer appetite means I can stay in my caloric rannge.

When I have a weak moment and eat what I ought not, where I ought not, my Hungry Dragon wakes up and starts inflicting damage.

This is why I only believe in planned indulgences--you plan for them, you know what you can handle, you save up calories for it, etc. Spontaneous, emotional eating is the pathway to appetite's ninth circle of Hell. How many times have you seen folks struggling after an eating vacation debacle? Or a holiday spree? The brain, habit pathways--these things can be friends or foes. For us overeaters, there are lots of minefields. I know it is all too true for me. One derailed meal can mean fighting, fighting, fighting for many meals after that t stay strong.

It's been a battle-filled week. Every meal. Today feels a bit calmer. The more fights you win, the easier the next one is. That I've learned, too.

Let's be strong. Let's believe in our power to choose better and best. Let's win.