Every. Single. Day.

"One day of not living intentionally becomes two days. One pound becomes two pounds. Then suddenly, without realizing it - you have unwittingly given yourself over to horrible habits and the solution seems overwhelming. How much better it is to make wise decisions - intentional decisions - each day."

- Julie Hadden, season four finalist on NBC's The Biggest Loser and author of Fat Chance

Small Wins

One thing I don’t think many people realize is that there is often times victory amidst defeat. For example, yesterday I met my husband for lunch at a local fast food restaurant. He wasn’t feeling too well, and I wanted to make sure that he at least ate something for lunch to keep his strength up at work (plus I love him and hate not seeing him all day). I could’ve made the skinny person choice and gotten a salad (Do they sell salads there? I’ll have to check.) but I know me too well and the cheeseburger and small fries won out. Consider that “defeat,” although I wasn’t really beating myself up while munching away. No, I was thinking about the dreamy, creamy, larger-than-life size photo of the cookie dough milkshake staring at me from the counter (note to self: face the other way when seated in places like this).

How would I obtain the object of my desire? My wallet was locked in the car, and I was not going to ask my hubby for “shake money,” like he was my supplier. Hmm. I could drop him back at his workplace (he had walked over to where we were), then circle around after he was safely out of sight and go through the drive thru! Yes, this would work!

Just then, something happened. A moment of clarity, perhaps. While I pointed my vehicle in the direction of the milkshake…suddenly I didn’t need it. I won’t say I didn’t still want it (because I did), but I managed to drive on past the dreamy creaminess and make my way back to work, shake-free.

And there’s the victory part. I won the battle in that moment. The burger and fries seemed like a small setback in comparison to the empowering feeling of making the right choice. Best part? Sixteen hours later, now as I’m pouring my cereal and skim milk, I’m one pound less than yesterday. Small wins are still wins. :-)