I started the CCRG Holiday Challenge without putting too much thought into what would really be involved. I'm not saying i wasn't ready to get down and sweaty with the cardio or pre-plan my meals for the week rather than deciding an hour before, or ordering out. I'm talking about the emotional aspect involved .. not emotional eating (although i've been VERY tempted to eat a pb'n'fluff this week) so a certain amount of emotional eating is involved too.
No, my emotion is strictly the heartache that i have because November is the month i lost both my grandfathers to heart attacks. My grandfather Robert passed away @66 11/1/07 and my gradfather Raymond @61 11/19/91. And while it's always been a favorite pastime of family to pick on me by calling me Robert Raymond, i've always been proud of the fact that I was named after these two men.
What's getting to me more this year than years in the past is that i am finally doing something to keep me from ending up leaving this planet "before my time". I'm aware of my family history, and what a strong role genetics can play in diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol .. yet i have still made the decisions to eat how i wanted when i wanted and what i wanted.. especially after having my daughter 2 years ago. NOT ANYMORE!
While my original reason for taking on this challenge may have been to FIT back into the size 12 jeans in the back of my closet that i refused to get rid of. My focus now is getting FIT so that I can someday meet and play with all my great-grandchildren. Something sadly my grandfathers never really had the chance to do.
Do I Have What It Takes?
Do I have what it takes
To fully commit to being a stronger,
Healthier, better me?
Not only for me but for my daughter.
Do I have what it takes
To continue to get up with my alarm
At 445 in the morning?
Or will it become easier and easier
To hit my snooze button one, two, three times?
Or maybe stop setting it early at all?
Do I have what it takes
To say no to my favorite foods?
To change not only the type of food that I eat,
But to look at food as the fuel for my body.
Instead of eating as a coping mechanism
Or out of boredom.
Do I have what it takes
To beat the odds?
Can I avoid my family history of
High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes?
Or will I have my first heart attack by my 50’s and pass on by my 60's
Like both my grandfathers?
YES I DO
I have what it takes
because
I WANT to be healthier
I WANT to lose weight
I WANT to be able to play with my daughter
and not get winded, and
I WANT to someday be able to play with my grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
I have what it takes because i'm not doing this just to look good,
i'm doing this to feel good too!
