News from Trainer Sue

What difference does today make? It is just one day- right? That's what I used to think, and still do on my bad days. What difference does it make if I eat this pizza, it's just one indulgence. What difference will it make? I deserve it! I worked hard today. I worked out today. I deserve it.

When I was a smoker, I never thought of one cigarette as making a difference in any way. I mean, I was smoking about 20 of them a day, day after day. At 365 days a year for 17 years that's about 124,000 cigarettes. What I didn't realize was each time I lit another one, whether consciously or subconsciously I was CHOOSING to do so. Any one of those 124,000 cigarettes could have been my last, but I chose to keep it up one more day, day after day.

I remember my last one very clearly. I actually didn't know it would be my last. I was sitting in the Bob Evans on Olentangy River Road down by Lennox. I had just finished my dinner and I lit up. This was before the indoor smoking ban. (I am so sorry to everyone whose meal I ruined by smoking in restaurants. I was an addict.) Anyway, I was sitting there smoking, waiting to leave to go to my third group meeting at McConnell for smoking cessation. I knew I wanted to quit, but I didn't know how and I didn't believe I could. I had failed too many times.

I finished that cigarette, put it out, and left the restaurant. At the smoking cessation group that night, they had a guest speaker who was an ex-smoker talk to us. He told us his story about going to the doctor for a checkup and ending up in surgery the following morning for an emergency quadruple by-pass. He talked about how smoking had been part of who he was for forty years but the moment they cut his chest open he knew he had smoked his last cigarette. It had been a year since his surgery and he was getting healthy and the thing I remember most was him saying he didn't miss it. He didn't miss it!!

WOW. If it was possible for a guy like that, after smoking for forty years, to just be done and not miss it, then maybe it was possible for me. And that night, all the preparation I had been doing, all the thinking about quitting smoking and hoping to be free of this addiction, clicked and I never smoked another one. The pack sat in my car for two weeks before my support group friends convinced me to throw them out. And despite all my fears that life would never be as good without cigarettes, well we all know that was a LIE.

Here's the thing. Any one of the 124,000 cigarettes could have been my last. It only takes one time of choosing differently to change direction. But there has to be that beginning. The first step must happen. Then the second step and so on. And for those of you who have never smoked, you don't instantly become a non-smoker. It is a process and a battle that you fight every day until you are free.

We all want so badly to take a giant leap-frog leap from where we are now to where we long to be. I understand the temptation. If I can't have the result right now, how can I keep going? By putting one foot in front of the other day after day and BELIEVING that those steps will get you to where you long to be. Here are some truths to hold onto on this journey:

Walking every day is one of the key components to long term fitness.
Strength training consistently can change your body.
What you eat every time you eat matters.
ANY day can be the day that you make a different choice and change direction.
There are lots of ways to get moving.
It is your challenge to find ways to keep moving.
There is absolutely no short cut and fitness takes work.

Let's make a new commitment this week. Let's get out of the fantasy world of '30 pounds in 30 days' fast weight loss and promise ourselves we'll get real about it. Today could very easily be your last day of life as you know it, and tomorrow could be the beginning of your new life in a totally different direction! This is possible for every single one of you. All you have to do is make a healthy choice next time you eat. Just one time, just right now. Worry about next time when it comes and step by step you will move into the life you have always dreamed of.

Now get moving!