A Day of Choices

As most of my WWsendtheloveTeamSlim girls know, I take this journey one choice at a time. Let's be honest...I have a long way to go (like, 150 pounds my friends!), so if I think too long term it's really easy to get discouraged and think how will I ever get there?

Everyday we are faced with choices. It's no secret that I've struggled with good choices surrounding my health for a long time. I chose what felt good in the moment. The cookie. The beer. The TV. The elevator. It wasn't that I was consciously choosing to be unhealthy. I just wasn't thinking about it. I did whatever the (bleep!) I wanted and didn't think or care about the consequences. Every little choice I made added up to being over 300 pounds. I didn't just wake up this way one day. It took effort. It took time. It took choices.

The good news is, WW has taught me the same process works in reverse. I can simply choose to lose weight...to be healthy...to be skinny (whatever you're aiming for). Everyday I can choose the salad over the cheeseburger, the treadmill over the TV, the stairs over the elevator. Sounds simple enough, right? We all know the mind can be a nasty little bitch and she'll mercilessly sabotage the best of efforts. That's OK. This is a journey and I know every choice isn't going to be perfect. I also know I can make the right choice most of the time and that's what will add up to success.

Below are two examples (using real scenarios from my life) of how I can choose to be healthy or choose to stay fat (and how those choices add up over just ONE day):

Example 1 - A Day of Bad Choices

1. Snooze my alarm until the last second.
2. Skip breakfast at home because I'm running late.
3. Take the train to work to save time.
4. Stop at Starbucks and get a grande mocha (10 PP).
5. Eat a bagel or donut in the break room because I skipped breakfast earlier (14PP).
6. Go out for pizza with coworkers at lunch (18 PP).
7. Skip my lunch time walk.
8. Go to happy hour with coworkers and drink 3 beers (15 PP).
9. Take train or Uber home.
10. Order takeout when I get home late (22 PP).
11. Skip my workout and veg on the couch.

1-Day Totals: Consumed 79 PP, earned 0 Activity Points (AP), took 2,500 steps
1-Week Totals: Consumed 553 PP, earned 0 AP, took 17,500 steps

Example 2 - A Day of Good Choices

1. Get up right when my alarm goes off .
2. Eat healthy breakfast of portioned Cheerios, skim milk, and fruit (5 PP)
3. Walk to work (2,500 steps)
4. Drink black coffee at the office (0 PP).
5. Pass on bagels or donuts in the break room and eat a packed snack (2PP).
6. Eat Subway 6" turkey sub and baked chips for lunch (11 PP).
7. Spend 30 minutes of my lunch time walking (2,500 steps).
8. Go to happy hour with coworkers and drink 1 beer, 1 Diet Coke, and 1 water (5 PP).
9. Walk home (2,500 steps).
10. Grab Panera for dinner on my way home (16 PP).
11. Go to gym for an hour at 10 pm (6,000 steps).
12. Eat post-workout "treat" (4PP).

1-Day Totals: Consumed 43 PP, earned 11 AP, took 13,500 steps
1- Week Totals: Consumed 301 PP, earned 77 AP, took 94,500

Now you can see how much of a difference in results these two examples produce! CRAZY, huh!!??! It's pretty apparent how good choices = weight loss and bad choices = weight gain when you see it broken down like this (you can also see how easy it is to scarf down 80 PP in food without a second look!).

Most days for me are a slight variation of the the second example. Maybe I don't go for my lunch time walk because I have a meeting, or maybe I skip the gym and go to bed early, or maybe I get coffee at Starbucks (a skinny version, of course!). I've been taking this journey one choice at a time and I've been more successful over these past two months than ever before. I can't wait to see how my good choices continue to accumulate and give me results!