Will I eat the salad or will I eat the cheeseburger? Should I work out in the morning or wait until I get off from work? Will I do the right thing and go to my Body Pump class or will I skip it to watch The Atlanta Housewives? (Don’t judge me). Decisions, decisions, decisions. This weight loss journey I’m on is all about making one decision after another. I would love to be able to say that I make the “right” one each and every time, but the truth is…I don’t! And when I make the “wrong” one the dialogue in my head usually goes something like this…
…I’ve worked all day long and I’m really tired. I’m going to skip my workout…just this once. I really need to rest.
…I know I should eat these vegetables and ground turkey I prepared for lunch, but I really have a taste for some fried chicken. I’ll have the chicken just for today and I’ll eat my veggies and turkey tomorrow.
…Oh man, I forget to bring my lunch. I should really run home to get it. I know it will only take me 5 minutes, but maybe I’ll just go to Popeyes. It’s right up the road.
…I know I need to get out of this bed and workout, but I’m so sore and tired from working out yesterday. I think I’ll just lay here a little longer. Maybe I can workout at lunchtime (of course something prevents that from being the case).
So tell me, what do these statements sound like to you? If you said excuses you would be right. Here’s the thing. Whether I decide to do the “right” thing or the “wrong” thing, I have to own the decision I’ve made.
Owning my choices, whatever they are, brings me face to face with the consequences, whatever they are. In that split second that it takes to decide, I can either err on the side of doing what I know is the best thing for me and feel great afterwards or I can choose to do what feels better to me at the time and feel lousy afterwards.
Those are my choices and again I don’t always make the “right” one, but what’s key to understand in making the “wrong” one is that I have to own it. No excusing it away. No rationalizing it. No justifying it. I have to recognize that in a split second decision I can either find myself on the path to reaching my goals or opt to stay stuck and in a rut. The decision is mines to make…own it!