Choices, you can do it!

Don’t you ever get tired of hearing people try to blame their problems on someone else or something else over which they (think) they have no control? I am tired of it. I was listening to an ad on the radio today with some guy talking about how stress is making Americans fat. It’s the day to day stress, he says, not the big things that come once in awhile. Well, I thought, then why are some people that have stress in their lives thin? I’ll tell you why. It’s because of the CHOICES that a person makes in the midst of stress. I feel stress and I think that if I go out to dinner and eat a huge, fattening meal, or if I consume an entire package of Oreo cookies, that I will feel better. Well, I will for a few minutes, then I will feel lousy and fat and sick to my stomach. Thankfully I have never done that. But is that guy on the radio trying to tell me and all other Americans that if we eat salad, lean meat, fruits, whole grains and other healthy foods, lay off the junk food and exercise that we are STILL going to be obese because of stress? I don’t buy that for one second. If I am stressed, I can choose to go for a walk, listen to relaxing music, clean or organize and are of my house, call a friend, read, write in my journal or many other things that I may enjoy, or do I have to go for the bag of chips or cookies? It is my choice what I eat. It is also my fault and completely (for most people) in my control.
I also heard a woman the other day on TV say that ladies who are overweight just are and they can’t do anything about so just love yourself for who you are and don’t worry because it’s not your fault that you are overweight and their is nothing you can do about it. That is the biggest load of garbage I have ever heard! Notice in the previous paragraph that I said most people. I understand that there are some people that have thyroid issues or other medical obstacles and I am not talking about them. I am talking about those who say they are fat because of their genes, or they are stressed or whatever. You can make a change if you want to. You choose what you put in your mouth. You choose to exercise or not. Life is about choices and those of us who are blessed enough to live in a land that allows us freedom of choice need to take advantage of that opportunity. So make some good choices today. Choose to eat differently, to eat less junk food and more healthy food. Choose to exercise. You can do it. You have done other amazing things in your life. You have things that were difficult. You were scared or nervous or worried before. When? Write it down. What did you do that was hard, but you did it anyway? Now, how did you feel after you accomplished it? Write it down. Tell somebody. They will be proud of you. Then make any health changes that you have been wanting to make. Just do it. You will feel awesome! Good luck!