Joyride

I seem to have a smile on my face every time I write on this blog. I may be feeling down about how far I’ve let myself go and apprehensive about how far I have to go to make it all right, but when I’m writing about it… thinking about it… talking about it… I feel like all’s right in the world, and the miles just seem to tick by like nothing.

We didn’t get where we are without spending a lot of alone time with ourselves and whatever it is (stress? anxiety? comfort? boredom? obsession?) that made us fixate on food and pack away the pounds. Make no mistake, it wasn’t good old-fashioned hunger, at least I know it wasn’t in my case. How many times have you eaten when you knew there was no possible way you could actually be hungry?

This journey is hard work, to be sure, but it is rewarding and it can be fun. If you aren’t getting at least a little enjoyment out of your quest for weight loss success, I’m afraid you’re bailing water on the Titanic: no matter how furiously you work or how hard you try, chances are you’re going down with the ship.

It can’t simply be about denial. It has to be about understanding what drives the desire, what fuels the insatiable hunger for what we know is the last thing we actually need. We need to embrace change and grant ourselves a new lease on life. The road is long and winding, and sometimes we don’t seem to be making good time. But make no mistake about it: we’re on our way.

Don’t expect it to happen overnight, but it is going to happen. There’s no doubt that it will be a long trip–the journey of a lifetime–but I’ve got plenty of time, plenty of will and plenty of sage advice and stupid lists to share with you. It’s a long road, but it doesn’t seem quite so long when you have good company.