Day #57 – My LEGO Tower of Health

When I was a kid I loved to play with LEGOS.  I had a big plastic tub of them and I would spend hours using my imagination to build great structures.  My favorite thing to do was build a tower; I built some really cool towers in my day.  In order to build a cool tower you need 2 things: Materials and a Plan.  You need to take stock of what you have available to work with and you have to craft your plan based on those materials.  I started many towers only to get halfway there and realize I didn’t have enough blocks to finish it.  The plan you create doesn’t have to be exact, and you can improvise along the way, but you at least need the basic framework.  Once you have your basic plan and parts, you are ready to put it all together. 

Even though today is day #57, there’s a part of me that feels like it is more like day #1.  The other 56 days have really been spent getting myself ready to build my tower, and today I’m finally starting to put it together.  That’s when the fun starts right?  You put the plan together and you got yourself ready for the big build.

When I look at past weight loss failures I see a common thread (besides the obvious that they all failed).  I notice that I never really took time to make a plan and take stock of my materials.  Usually it was just a spur of the moment type decision that I was going to flip the switch and instantly become a health nut.  My plan was always the same:  I’m going to track my calories, eat less than 2000 each day, and exercise for at least 30 minutes 6 days a week.  Does that sound familiar to you?  That certainly wasn’t a great plan and I didn’t even bother to check to see if I had the materials needed so ultimately I got halfway into the tower and then realize I couldn’t complete it.

Now when I talk about gathering materials needed to execute my plan I’m talking about more than something physical.  I’m talking about gathering knowledge about who I am and what will (and won’t) work for me.  I’m talking about gathering a little bit of confidence through some small victories and compassion through some failures.  I’m talking about gathering the mental strength I need to complete my tower.

For the first time, I feel like I’ve done what was needed to start building my tower.  I didn’t just dump out the box of parts and start building in random fashion, I took my time and prepared.  I’ve got my parts and my plan; time to start building!

 

[Photo: Flickr / Matija Grguric]