As I watch yet another diet and exercise infomercial promising incredible, long-lasting results, I realize that no diet and exercise plan can create results like that.  No, wait, I mean all diet and exercise plans can produce such wondrous outcomes.  Did I just say they can produce, no they cannot, well, maybe they can but then again.....

No, I am not competing for the title of world champion yo-yo dieter.  (The competition is too great.)  I finally have realized that there is a perfect plan to rid me of excess weight.  There are thousands, millions of them and they all are based on a simple miracle cure.

The cure is the realization that you and I deserve to embrace our self-worth.  We are all worthy of everything good and that includes a successful diet and fitness plan that suits us individually.  Choose an existing plan or make your own.  Work the plan around how you like to eat and when you have time to exercise even if it is just 2 minutes here and there.  No plan can be laid out in complete detail.  I haven't come across a diet book yet that tells me what to eat and how to exercise the day you are sitting home missing your daughter who has gone back to school or after you twisted your weak ankle for the umpteenth billion time.  The key to sticking with any lifestyle change plan, any decision, is the belief that you deserve better.  Why is it so hard to believe the truth?

I used the new "buzz" term of "lifestyle change" but a lifestyle cannot be changed without addressing the emotional piece of your life that has styled you to be the unique individual that you are.  How do you and I re-style ourselves to be healthy and fit?

What are the steps I can take to guide the emotional piece of my journey of lifestyle change down a path towards emotional peace?

Emotional Piece vs Emotional Peace

It is funny how these two phrases are almost identical in their spellings yet so completely different in meaning.  Amazingly a couple of simple letters can completely transform the substance behind a phrase.  So how do I replace those two letters in my life? It is an effortless task for my fingers to make the change on a keyboard.  Why is it so difficult for my mind to allow the changes in myself?

Maybe what holds me back is the fact that just simple changes are what I need to make it happen.  No huge epiphany into the meaning of life.  No banning of all snacks.  No resoluteness to never miss a day of exercise again.  Just an easy turn of my head will guide me in a slightly different direction.  Only an extra couple of steps each day will steer me towards better fitness.  Merely trading one food choice for a healthier one can show me a way to exchange weariness for vigor.  Again, it is so easy on a keyboard.  Why can't it be so effortless in my real life?

I have pondered over what my personal "ie" is and what "ea" I am aiming for first.  This led me to realize I must change feelings of being "inconsequential" fueled by constant "excuses" into feelings of "enthusiasm" built on continual "achievement."

How do I do this? For me, I think it needs to be writing down everything from this time forward.

I want to upgrade my "ignorant eating" to "eating awareness" by writing EVERYTHING down I eat.  I emphasized "everything" because I tend to stop writing when I have reached my daily limits.  I need to face the truth in black in white.

I want to take my mental and physical levels from "immobility" and feeling "exasperated" towards becoming "energetic" and "accepting" of a helping hand.  Again, record it all, the exercise, the times I need support, the times of success, and the times just could not do it (or would not do it).

I have to face my fears by writing them down.  Write down everything I ate.  Write down when and why I ate it.  Write down my exercise.  Write down my reasons when I am unable to exercise.  Write down the number of times I went to the refrigerator or panty and opened and closed and open and closed it again looking for that food I am craving that never seems to be there.  Write down as much as I can even when my laptop's battery is about to die, even when I am about to run out of paper, even when it hurts.

Then more importantly, read what I wrote over and over until it starts to make sense.  Until I understand that I sabotage myself.  If my daughter or my best friend were holding themselves back with the same negative reasons towards themselves that I have, I would tell them how wonderful they are.  I hear from others that I deserve to be healthy and fit.  I need to tell it to myself.  You need to tell it to yourself because you too are worthy of being as healthy and fit as you can possibly be.

The miracle weight loss cure we need is within us all.  It always has been and it always will be.  It is you, it is me.  Be your own miracle.

It is time to use your good Intentions and Expectations to Engage in self-discovery and Aim for your star.