Today has been better than yesterday. I was not as hungry…stuck 100% to my plan foods, got in a nice 3 1/2 mile walk, and finished my book The Sea Runners! It remained windy ALL day today which prevented me from kayaking but I was able to work in my classes for next year and begin to plan out a book group for my lady friends that will start in the fall!

My food today was on on-plan and I got it all in…cereal to shakes. I layered my sloppy joe in cold lettuce and spinach and warmed the dressed to create a “warm” salad that did just the trick in the days blustery winds which seem to be coming from every direction. The flags don’t know which way to fly and neither do the birds! Even though the sun was out almost all day it feels like fall. Some of the leaves on the lake road are starting to turn and the wind has knocked off any hold overs from last fall. This wind has been deep…the kind that seems to flow right through your skin and wrap around your bones. Fall is indeed coming to the Pacific Northwest. Winds of change I always liken them to…they signal a new season and a change of pace. Soon I will be forced out of bed at god awful hours for work…I will have to poke and prod students to complete their work…there will be endless hours of meetings and late nights spent working in my classes. But with this work comes cooler, wetter weather…my Seahawks will once again take the field to dominate the National Football League and I will gather my friends and family to watch it all happen. I can plant fall flowers in my planter that have golden ruby hues and can enjoy reading in the last lights of late summer on my back porch which is bordered by a beautiful evergreen greenbelt that also turns glorious colors of gold and sienna. Fall seems to be the season of dinner parties and book groups and organizing and coffee dates with friends. It’s almost like a down time before the holidays begin and the festivities kick into high gear.

The time between Thanksgiving and New Years are the high holy days in my family and circle with much celebrating occurring on what seems like all days. There is the weekend in Leavenworth, Thanksgiving, Tree Cutting (We LOVE to kill trees for Christ in my family), my sisters birthday, weekend in Portland riding the Polar Express train, holiday gatherings, tree lightings, game nights, present wrapping, Seahawk Sundays, Seahawk Mondays, Seahawk Saturdays (we do A LOT of Seahawking), family movie nights of Christmas Vacation, Christmas Story, and Muppet Christmas Carol, there is the day before the day before Christmas…Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, then Boxing Day, then New Years…it is non-stop party from the weekend before Thanksgiving to the weekend after New Years. Work is somewhere in that mix but it really falls to the back burner with all this celebrating. Usually this celebrating comes with a lot of food and a lot of drink. I am a bit nervous for this upcoming season. I am hoping that when these festivities roll around I am at least half way to my goal and have found an even better balance between life and indulgence. At least with the holidays I KNOW what event is coming up and what food items I will indulge in or pass on. I will be better able to plan and prepare for the extravagance that is the holidays. In Weight Watchers we talked about how to handle the big eating days…how to balance out what you really want to have with what you could skip out on. I am already planning ahead and thinking that this will be a great strategy for the holiday months. Maybe it is crazy that I am thinking this far ahead but the wind and the weather today took my brain into the future and that was where it has stayed. I think that thinking ahead has gotten me a bit further out of my funk of boredom and nudged me to start thinking once again of the season ahead. Seems about right…I can only lay in the sun for so many days before even that starts to lose it’s appeal!

I saw this #truthbomb today and it resonated with me. If you are going to do something, you just have to do it. I have “committed” to things in the past but didn’t really ever commit. I think we have ALL done that….jumped into something to pass the time or move up a ladder rung or anticipated great rewards without thinking it through. I had some will power in the past but was never able to build up enough will power to commit to the work of truly releasing weight. And people know this…society knows it in ever person that is obese. Being overweight is different…there could be plenty of causes for those extra pounds but someone who is obese has not mustered the commitment to do the work the struggle requires. Sure they have will power but it pitters out around week 3 and runs out completely in week 5. Some people will offer encouraging words but there is a caveat attached. “You are doing so great! Wouldn’t want to lose any ground now!” or “Keep up the good work, you don’t want to take any steps backwards!” I get why…I have attempted to lose weight before and people have seen that will power last only a few weeks. This time is different however…I have banked enough will power to muster the energy for a commitment. Some people will never see that commitment and I am ok with that. Others will see it and continue to add to my will power bank so when a recession hits I will have a nice cushion of support! I think this applies to many different areas of life…do we just have will power or do we have enough will power built up to truly commit? My next question is this: How do we know we are committing to the right thing at the right time? Sleep on that one world!