Independence Day

As the 4th of July came and went so did my commitment to eating healthy. I used the holiday to eat pretty much what I wanted and while it wasn't all bad, I reverted to a bad habit that I thought I had kicked. I found myself drinking Dr. Pepper this weekend. I probably had a total of 5 over a 3 day weekend. I rarely drink anything but water or tea anymore and have really been trying to keep the tea to a minimum. But there is just something about a huge cooler of ice cold drinks! This got me to thinking about freedom. Funny, huh? What came to my mind it that with freedom, comes great responsibility. If there is no responsibility the freedom can lead to chaos. I see that in the big picture of our country and in my own little bitty life as well. See, I was given the freedom to manage my own health. I was born with a healthy body. I was born beautiful. I was born full of energy. Somewhere very early in life, I decided to assert my independence in many areas. One area was watching cartoons on my own so my family could tend to my younger sister, Joey who had problems from her birth. I also could get my own soda so no one had to help me when their hands were full. I also was "big" enough to clean my plate so that no one had to get on to me for not eating. I was independent. But I learned no responsibility to balance that freedom. I got into habits of watching hours of cartoons after school and drinking sodas all day instead of water. And I kept on cleaning my plate. Well these bad habits followed me as I grew and even as an adult, I have some of those same issues. I can still sit for hours and watch TV especially if it's hot outside. As I mentioned before, I slid backwards towards the soda demon this weekend and I will still clean my plate at almost every meal. The thing about freedom left unchecked with your body is that you wake up one day like me and realize that much of your "freedom" has been lost when you don't have the stamina to climb the stairs so you can't go to a Ranger game or you can't fit comfortably in the seats at American Airlines Center so you can't go to a concert or see the Mavericks play. You realize that your freedom has been lost when you can't get dressed without sweating. I am trying to incorporate more responsibility into my life due to these issues. I am following a plan that encourages me to drink water and other healthy things. I am focusing on not cleaning my plate if I am no longer hungry. I am limiting the time I will be sedentary, as in watching TV, napping, talking on the phone and such. I am being more responsible with my health in hopes that I can lose some weight and gain more strength and stamina and therefore regain the precious freedom that I took for granted for so many years. It's not to late for you to regain your independence, too!