Here it was, the last Saturday in January and sunny and 72 degrees at the beach in southern California, Oxnard Shores to be exact. I had made an awesome breakfast of egg beaters scrambled with taco seasoned ground turkey and a bit of lite mozzarella cheese. I was happy, satisfied and ready to enjoy the day. I had choices. I could go shopping, clean house, phone a friend, go on line and get lost in Facebook land, or take myself for a walk on the beach to get my fitness in. Nine years ago I would have chosen phone a friend, 7 years ago probably shopping, sometime in the mix I might have chosen cleaning house, but I realized that now, 9 years and 8 months since my Lap Band surgery I chose fitness first. Why? This particular day it was for many reasons:
- The first being that consistency is how I managed to lose 250 pounds and I am consistent about my exercise. It’s a habit, I brush my teeth, I get my fitness done.
- The second was the day - how could I waste a spectacular day inside when I could be communing with the ocean, the birds, the sky, the flowers?
- The third was about keeping a promise I made to myself to BE and DO what it takes to remain fit and healthy for the rest of my life. When I was 55+ and choosing to have weight loss surgery that simply meant resolving my asthma, high blood pressure, sleep apnea. Today it means SO much more. It means living each day to the fullest, going for the gusto, having as much fun as possible and finding the strength of purpose to move my body each and every day. I am 65 years young now and like being able to move through life with freedoms I had not had for years.
- Finally it is paying it forward. I started at 55+ years old weighing 424 pounds and not able to move across a room. I speak to others every day who are fighting the obesity battle and ask me how I do it…. the answer is in the sharing of just doing it. Nobody is going to do it for me, some days it is difficult, some days it feels downright impossible, but if I can get it done on those days, if I manage to quiet those voices telling me to just quit, it’s ok NOT to, maybe, just maybe, someone else can find the courage and strength to take that first step, and then another, and then for some to run, for others to walk, for still others to dance, some to swim, some to bicycle, but ALL to make the choice that NOW is the time to LIVE.
I offer to each and every one of you who take the time to read this the opportunity to have your choice be LIFE, HEALTH & HAPPINESS, and to take the actions necessary to make your goals, your choices, a reality.
For me, last Saturday, that was having a great, healthy breakfast and a long walk on the beach. What are your choices, your goals, and what are you willing to do to get them?
