"Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself."
I love this quote and I hate this quote. When I was in the throws of a pity party, I used to look at it with a skeptical eye in the context of "But I can't do it myself!! I've tried! I need help!"
I need motivation!
I need advice!
I need a trainer!
I need an exercise tape.
I need a magic food!
I need a better food tracker!
I need BETTER GENES!!!!
When tracking calories meant looking things up in a book (yes, I'm that old) I wished for a program to help (apps did not exist back then you whipper snappers.)
Back when the dinosaurs ruled the earth, you either wrote the program yourself and saved it on a floppy disk or eventually we got programs we could use on the amazing "new" Compact Disc's!
Then the internet. I still remember the joy at finding Spark People in 2010 and their data base of foods and information and community. Yes!! THAT IS WHAT I NEEDED!!
(As an aside, I still miss giving out "Spark Goodies" to friends in need....)
But still...the weight went up and the weight went down. Over decades, the ups got more up and the downs got less down.
But I never gave up.
I was always open to the next diet book, the next zumba class, the next research paper, the next anything that worked for anyone because maybe, just maybe it would work for me. I prayed. I berated myself. I made bargains with myself. I signed up for boot camps. I signed up for 5Ks. I ate less until my body rebelled. I spent much of my life waiting for the "right" number to show up on the scale.
Yes, true, "Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself."
But it does not mean that someone can't hand you the remote in the form of a book, a blog, a website, an inspirational picture, a meme, a quote, a podcast, a seminar or a good old fashioned heart to heart conversation in "real life."
Keep mashing the buttons, keep changing the channel and don't forget to replace the GD batteries every once in a while.
