I had Oatmeal for Breakfast......

I had oatmeal for breakfast.........in the form of no-bake cookies. I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. You know, the cookies made from oatmeal and chocolate and cooked over the stove. No, I did not make them for breakfast! I made them yesterday because I was having a craving and I gave into that craving. I ate some more for breakfast.

Well, there is the confession and the bad of this post. Now on to the good part. Despite eating cookies for breakfast and really not wanting to I got on the treadmill this morning and was able to complete Week 7, Day 2 of the C25K training. For those of you who may not know what C25K is click here. Week 7 is the same each day. It is running for 25 minutes at a time. I am nowhere near the distance goal. But I have been aiming for the time throughout the training so I will be happy with it. I ran for 1.8 miles. I have decided that once I complete the training by time, I will go back a few weeks and try for the distance. That will be a new challenge and provide me with new goals.

There was a great column in today's newspaper by a sportswriter, who also writes a column called "Losing It". His name is Jody Genessy. He talks about his triumphs and struggles on his own weight loss journey. Today's column focused on tracking what he eats as well as accountability. Here is an excerpt from the column:

"If I end up being obese, it's because I choose to be obese and do the things that make me that way. It's nobody else's fault. And if I end up being thinner, it's because I choose to be thinner and do the things that make me that way.
In a way, I'm pretty dang lucky. It's all up to me. I get to choose.
It's important for me to realize that I'm in control. That's scary because I know the damage that can happen when I let go of the wheel and allow my natural instincts to drive for me. (The fact my inflated body looks like a couple of air bags exploded inside my clothes is proof of that.)"

You can read the entire column here.

Reading the article got me thinking. It really is up to us. We have all the power in this journey. Of course, there are many of us that believe God has power too and I truly believe that. But that is a post for another day. I think once we allow ourselves to believe that we have the power to change ourselves and determine our own journey we will be successful.

Of course, this takes courage. It is a lot easier to blame other people or circumstances for our problems, be it health issues or other problems. It is easier to keep going a long the way we have been and chalk it up to how we were raised or how we've been treated. But once we do it we feel so empowered.

I determine where my journey will take me. Sometimes things have happened to us that are HARD and UNFAIR. Sometimes we turn to an unhealthy lifestyle to cope with these issues. I feel like I have had a pretty good life and know others have a lot more challenging personal trials than I have or will ever experience. However, there are some experiences or circumstances of my life that have left me feeling sad and wishing things could be different. I have no control over these circumstances and cannot change them. But I do have control over how I react to them and cope with it all. I feel like I learned this a long time ago and have been a pretty happy person because of it.

This applies to our weight loss journey. We are in control. It is up to us. We can choose how we react to stress in our life. Are we going to eat a donut or go run a mile? Are we going to go on a binge or have a good cry (this always helps me) and let it out at once so we can move on? We choose to get outside help if we need it. We choose what foods we make (ugggh...shouldn't have made those cookies). We choose what we order at a restaurant. We choose to exercise or not to. We choose whether or not to let God into our journey. We choose to live healthy or not. We have the power. We can do this!