More Words of Advice

Thinking back on Herr Moore's "just start" advice, I've been pondering other words I live by. All have helped me in my weight loss journey and I'm sharing them with you in hopes that they might be beneficial.

1. It only gets one color of green. This is closely related to, "Shit or get off the pot." Both come courtesy of my dad. What do they mean to me in this get healthy process? They translate to "Now is the time." If you're waiting for a perfect time, it's not going to happen. If you want work to be less busy, or the kids' schedules to be less full, or your significant other to be more helpful around the house, or the weather to be warmer, or the dog to walk on a leash with more skill ... or whatever ... you'll wait forever. The green light is on. Go.

2. Nothing good ever happens when your head is higher than your ass. This beauty comes from a former co-worker who spent college summers working at Great America as a safety inspector for the long-gone Turn of the Century and Tidal Wave roller coasters, among others. This is probably the reason I haven't tried real yoga, why I flunked out of step aerobics back in the day and why I can't do a flip turn in the pool.

3. Hesitation will get you killed. This gem, again, comes from my dad. He used it in reference to learning to drive. As in, if you start to pull out in front of someone, get it done. Having second thoughts will confuse the other driver and land both of you in the emergency room after a dance with the Jaws of Life ... if you're lucky. Hesitate on getting control of your health and you will also be sorry. Every day you spend miserable because you're carrying too much weight and too many rotten emotional baggage around is a wasted day. You only get one ride in this life and it's too freaking short to spend one moment of it unhappy ... or dead ... on the inside.

4. Never waste a bad mood. I first heard this as a "work lesson" for those that manage people. I know it sounds kind of mean, but I have found it to be liberating and productive. The point was that there are days that just don't go well. And as long as you're pissed off anyway, you might as well use that mood to to tackle a few of the things/processes/people that you've been pushing aside because you're waiting for a good time to handle it or a good way to say it. But it works for exercise, too. Wake up feeling ornery? Beat it out on the treadmill. Have a rough day at work? Hit the weights. Irritated at everything? Run a few miles. When you're tired, it all seems better.

5. I before E, except after C, or as in AY, as in neighbor and weigh. Weird. What does this have to do with being healthier? It just proves that there's no such thing as an all or nothing rule. This is your life. You write the playbook. Nothing is all good, or all bad. No one is all right or all wrong. Anyone on the face of the planet that sells you a magic diet pill/exercise routine/food supplement/surgery and uses the words ALL, ALWAYS, EVERYTHING, NEVER, NONE, NOTHING, FOREVER are feeding you a line of crap. You know you weigh too much because you don't eat properly and you don't move enough. You know to lose weight, you have to take in less than you work off. It's possible that you have a one-in-a-million metabolism issue, but it's unlikely. Find YOUR way.