A New Kind of Marriage

About two weeks ago Mike and I met with the priest at our church for our first one-on-one pre-marriage meeting. As we're gearing up for our second meeting this weekend I got to thinking about what marriage entails including compromise, commitment, constant recommitment, nurturing and humor. The more I thought about it, I realized that changing the way I eat for life is like a marriage in and of itself.

I've made the decision not to be on a diet but to diet as a way of life. I'm not eating a specific way or avoiding all kinds of foods for a couple of months in hopes of dropping 20 pounds, but rather i'm changing the way I eat in general, and the way I approach food. This new thing I'm doing is not a diet, but instead is a way of life. The iPhone apps may not last for 15 years, and I may not blog forever, but I hope that what I am doing now is getting so ingrained into my system that I will carry it with me forever. Once I lose the pounds, I want to maintain the weight. I want to be healthy again, something I haven't been for years!

Making a change like that, one that alters a lifestyle is an enormous commitment, just like getting married. I'm getting ready to walk down the aisle in a few months, and I know that being in that marriage will take a lot of work. There will be days that aren't cheery, and some conversations will take more work than others, but the overall happiness is what makes the entire thing worth it. He makes me so incredibly happy that the rough patches that are destined to come, are simple stepping stones. And so it is with this diet. Every Monday I feel like I have to recommit myself to my goals and my program. Weekends tend to let my mind wander about brownies, Cold Stone ice cream and Papa Johns pizza. I always say to myself, "having it just once won't hurt," but I never let that happen because I know it's a slippery slope for me!

So this is a lot of change for once person in one year, but every moment is worth it. The commitment to Mike and our future is the easiest decision I've ever made, and continuing on this weight loss path will be one of the best journeys I've ever embarked on.