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Diabetes, heart-attack, acute angina. Think you are too young to worry about such things? Well, not really. Seeds for things like this are sown now. The cake you eat today is your cellulite tomorrow... and maybe your hear attack 20 years from now.
Life habits define you. And time, well it passes quickly. Too quickly. "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future", as the Steve Miller Band so perceptively says.
Like a five dollar fortune teller at the St. Anne's feast, you can see your future by looking at your now. I need to look at my now! What am I actually creating?! Every decision I make shapes my future. So I really need to bring my future in close and think about how I would want it to be. What is the path I am on--where will it take me and what are the consequences of not changing?
That deserves repeating: What are the consequences of not changing?!
Sometimes you feel like you just need a break. Can't think about healthy habits now, got too much going on. Moving, changing jobs, ending relationships...How could you even think of quitting cigarettes now, or going to the gym, are you kidding me? Last thing you feel like doing is taking a walk in the park. Your life is anything but a walk in the park.
True, but I've come to realize that it is in the difficult times when we show ourselves what we're made of. This is where it means the most. This is where we need to
make up our mind that we're on this journey for the long haul. Dig in deep and have a resolve about it. Know it's not about looking good in a swimsuit or fitting into a smaller size or showing off at a high school reunion. It's about the rest of your life.
It's about being happy. After all, isn't that all anyone really wants anyway, is to be happy.
Well, I may say to myself, hey...eating that hostess ring ding will make me sure happy right now! Ah ha, did you hear that? It would make me happy right now. While I'm eating it, the whole 10 seconds it may take.
Momentary satisfaction. The question I need to always ask myself is, "But later, how will it make me feel?" Will that ring ding make me feel alive, energetic, alert? No! Tired, restless and gassy, yes. Sure, eating a hostess ding dong isn't the end of the world. But it's paving a path towards my destruction. It's navigating me like a TomTom gps on a journey towards obesity, diabetes or just feeling really lousy later.
So, I ask for patience so that I can stay in that secret place. That place where I can pull my future in close.
You know, that secret place where you get excited about the promise of total health and well-being. I need to be still and honor my future, the moment before I bring the food to my mouth. As long as I am in that place, I'll be okay.
As long as I'm in that place, I can see myself on the path where I want to be. It's tree-lined and sun-kissed. People are smiling, there's someone waving hello. Look, there I am! It's my future self 20 years from now; happy, healthy and wow, skydiving in tandem with an eagle.
And we're doing back loops!
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Janet Podleski is one half of the sister act that wrote the bestselling cookbooks, Looneyspoons, Crazy Plates and their latest, Eat, Shrink & Be Merry! Janet and her sister, Greta, are also monthly columnists for Canada's number-one magazine, Reader's Digest, and were voted into Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2000. The sisters and their inspirational, self-publishing success story have been featured on dozens of national TV programs such as The Today Show, CNN, Canada A.M. and QVC, as well as on hundreds of radio shows, and in magazines and newspapers across North America. In addition to a B.A. in Psychology, she has also earned a degree as a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. 
Brenda J. Ponichtera is a registered dietitian and author of several award-winning cookbooks, all designed to prove that "healthful eating doesn't have to take a lot of time in the kitchen."
Calorie Bargain: Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt
Calorie Bargain: Green Mountain Gringo Mild Salsa
