Control

Made it a whole year without a diet coke!  Yep, I haven't had any kind of soda drinks at all for an entire year now.  I set out on that goal as a way to test my own personal "control issue" and to see if I could use this normally a negative character trait for my own good.  Turns out I can use my need for control to my benefit... when I use it properly:)

So I celebrated my one year of no coke- with a coke zero LOL.  I enjoyed every single drop at the movies (hence the candy to go with it).  Nothing crazy happened, the world didn't come to an end, and my head didn't pop off.  On the other side of the coin, when I stopped drinking soda, I didn't magically feel better, didn't lose my sugar cravings, and didn't lose any weight.  You hear lots of stories about how dramatic it can be to stop doing "something", whether that be soda or cigarettes or what have you.  In my experience, the one thing I gain by quitting anything is the sense of accomplishment that I can do it!

Not really sure what it is for me around this time of the year.  I think because the year end feels like it is coming on fast, I usually start/stop something around this time of the year.  I actually quit smoking around this time of the year... 24 years ago! Last year I started Crossfit in October.  I have been at it diligently for an entire year.  I go five days a week, every week, unless I am out of town or something unexpected comes up.  In general though, I have fully committed myself to 8am Crossfit Monday-Friday for an entire year.  So this is my pat on the back for also succeeded at that commitment.  Another way of harnessing my "control" over what I do with my time/treasure/talents for something valuable in my life.

So now you ask what is my new start/stop obsession for this season in my life?  Well I am going to start focusing on losing weight with full commitment for a year.  I have the exercise part fully in place and it is now a habit as they say.  So now comes the discipline with my eating habits.  I have tried every diet out there, and for me Weight Watchers has worked the best in the past.  So I am back on their plan.  This plan feeds my "control issues" as I have to track every single thing I put in my mouth.  It makes me accountable and gives me something to actually do-which makes me happy:)  And guess what... I can even drink a diet coke every now and then whenever I want to-which also makes me happy!  So here's to a new 12 months of controlling something positive in my life...cheers!!

 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. -Corinthians 6:12