"Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most" Abraham Lincoln
We have a contest going on right now between six or eight treatment staff members who are trying to lose weight. The contest name is plagiarized from the TV program, "The Biggest Loser." It seems like none of the contestants are using the same method to lose weight. One is working with a nutritionist. Another has bought a program off of TV. Others are working out their own diet plan.
First prize is $250 to the person who loses the largest percentage of their body weight. Second prize is $150. And third prize is $100. The contest ends December 31.
I'm not exactly sure who or what inspired the contest. All I know is that it wasn't me. And I'm not in the contest because if I weighed any less I'd be a stick figure.
I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about why TLC staff members and clients gain weight. But I think that as people get sober they sometimes find a new addiction: eating. After all, food is definitely another form of self-gratification and if we eat mindlessly it's easy to fall into bad habits.
But I find it encouraging when I see staff members – or clients – begin to impose discipline upon themselves. Many are already starting to look amazingly better, and some have so much energy that they're even starting to work out. Some go to the gym. A few walk or do other forms of exercise. The changes in their appearance and energy levels are truly gratifying. It's good to see them care enough about themselves to take serious steps to improve their health.
The saying in the first line of this blog says it all. We must choose between what we want now and what we want most.
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