RE-SET

Why is it that it takes me an entire year of consistent exercise and mindful eating to lose 20 pounds, and less than one month of hectic, distracted living to gain 5 pounds back?!! That just doesn't seem right!!

Right or not, it is the reality I have to live with. So, I am taking a deep breath, forcing a pause in the chaos, and resolving to hit the Re-Set button. Back to the One Egg plan:  I only ate two of Helen's fantabulous chocolate chip cookies yesterday afternoon, when what I really wanted was to mow through the entire plate.

Maintaining a healthy weight ("healthy" as in "my pants are no longer so tight that they restrict my breathing") is not technically difficult - no complicated menus or grocery shopping lists; no cooking one dinner for the family and another for myself; no gnarly low carb, high protein, gluten free, free range, organic, restrictions; no pink drinks, expensive smoothie mixes, or fresh tarantula milk. It's as easy as eating one chocolate chip cookie and then pausing to think whether or not I really want another before eating the second, instead of eating half a dozen and then thinking, "Dang! I didn't mean to do that!"

The thing that is hard about this is not that it is technically difficult, but that it requires me to think and to be consistent day after day after day. Why is keeping my mind turned "On" such a challenge?!!

On another note...

A couple of weeks ago, Caroline asked at the beginning of our morning exercise class, "Have you ever had one of those days that was just silver?"

Caroline went on to explain that the day before had gotten off to a bumpy start when her printer malfunctioned, and then her day had just gone downhill from there. She concluded, "Most days are gold, but every now and then you have a day that's just silver. That's what my day was yesterday."

I don't know about you, but I tend to putter along through my days and weeks with more of a wood-stubble-&-hay mentality. Not too infrequently, I'll have a "silver" day. But a "gold" day? Those only come along once in a blue moon!

This is not to say that Caroline lives an easier life than I do, or that her days always go according to plan, or that she rarely encounters frustration or disappointment. No, our circumstances are probably not that very different. What is different is our attitudes.

Caroline unknowingly challenged me that morning to endeavor to live each day with eyes that are looking for "gold" - to see and enjoy and celebrate what is good about each day - instead of focusing on what is less-than-gold.

I want to be the kind of person who can say, like Caroline, "Most days are gold, but every now and then you have a day that's just silver."

My jeans are too tight this morning, but that's okay...it's motivated me to hit the Re-Set button.

Today is a new day...and I really do believe it is going to be golden.