If this were a football game now would be when I'd be getting the chewing out from the coach and would probably be warming the bench for the 2nd half of the game.
This is not a football game. It us much more serious than that. Well, the seriousness of the situation might depend on the game but it is serious enough for me.
You don't have to smoke, drink, do drugs, cuss, take crazy chances or any of an assortment of bad habits, but you do have to eat.
Sugar may not be a drug but it sure is addictive.
The Paleo diet worked but not having grains to eat drove me nuts and I failed to stick with the diet.
Counting calories has not worked.
Avoiding my allergen foods has not worked.
Eating vegetarian has not worked.
I'm sure that many diets could work but none of them will work unless I do. Unless I stick to it.
Willpower alone is certainly not the answer. I avoid drugs, alcohol, and immorality by avoiding the people and places that would cause me to get involved with them. I don't allow it in my house and won't go near the stuff. Willpower has nothing to do with it. I have not been offered a cigarette or a drink in years because the people I am around know that I don't smoke or drink. Very few of them drink themselves and none of them do drugs that I know of. The church helps here. There are plenty of people and lots of clean activities. In fact, there is much more to do than you can possibly get done. If you don't go near the edge of the cliff you won't fall off of the cliff. Because of this commitment and the circles I run in avoiding these is easy.
Avoiding food is impossible and junk food is everywhere. You can't avoid being offered junk food because it is virtually everywhere. It is in the vending machine at work, on the break room table, in the Christmas gifts your co-workers bring you, at your children's birthday party, at the in-laws, and tempting you from the restaurant menu. At church activities the ice cream and brownies are waiting on the table to be consumed right after the prayer asking Heavenly Father to bless it to nourish and strengthen our bodies.
Somehow I don't have much faith that the prayer for the ice cream and brownies to nourish and strengthen our bodies will be answered.
The trick seems to be to build a culture of success around me. I can't really do a great deal to change who I associate with. My current commitments mean that I am mostly around my co-workers at work and my family and church associates after work. Work, children's lessons, Boy Scouts, church commitments, and family responsibilities mean that my circle of associates does not and cannot change much. However, these are people that are supportive of positive change. I could not really hope for a more supportive group. If I can just go for a few months without eating junk then the people around me will likely support me in keeping up good health habits. However, they have to know I am committed and won't bend.
So how do I get from here to there? Even one day is very difficult. A few months seems like an impossible task.
