Spring has sprung and it’s that time of the year where we start pulling out the summer clothes only to find they’ve shrunk over the winter! We know that many of our readers are in the battle for a healthier lifestyle.  So we invite you to join us each Wednesday during the month of May where we will focus on health. We invite you to share in the discussion as we prepare for the 100 days of summer! 

Ugh! I must confess… I’ve been carrying around 15 extra pounds for a few years – I have been secretly negotiating the release of said 15 pounds, to which those negotiations typically breakdown somewhere between my house and the gym!

My daughter is naturally trim; she doesn’t have to work at being beautiful. Do you know anyone who is like that? Well, try living with that 19-year-old beauty queen who puts on the clothes I only dream about wearing, and keeps a flat stomach without a single abdominal crunch! It’s like Mother Nature is mocking me with my own offspring!

Unfortunately, for me, weight finds it’s way to my body whether I consume the food or just desire it! The numbers on the scale just keep increasing! It’s like I possess a superpower I didn’t ask for!

The kryptonite to my said superpower resides at the gym, to which I have a natural eversion of! We [the gym and I] hold this love/hate connection like a bad relationship that can’t be severed!

Well, after months of using every excuse to keep my butt out of the gym, I finally relented and entered, once again, through the dreaded doors of the only place that neutralizes my power to gain weight!

I love the way I feel once I’m finished, but oh man, the mental arguments that take place before I even leave the house could literally be considered a pre-workout because it’s so exhausting! I swear I have the good angel/bad angel residing on my shoulders and the conversation goes something like this…

Bad Angel: You can go tomorrow…

Good Angel: Go today you know you’ll feel better

Bad Angel: People will see just how fat you are…

Good Angel: No one is looking at you…

Bad Angel: You’ve done this before it takes so long to loose weight…

Good Angel: Just focus on today and think about tomorrow – tomorrow…

Have you ever heard such a conversation? I just want to scream SHUT UP ALREADY! The conversation does subside the minute I put on my gym clothes and get into the car – until I get on the equipment. Then the conversation goes something like…

Bad Angel: Why are you doing this…

Good Angel: You’ll feel better when you’re finished…

Bad Angel: You can’t breathe…

Good Angel: You are stronger than you were yesterday…

Bad Angel: Look at her, you’ll never look like her.

Good Angel: Your goal is to be healthy not look like her.

Again, I just want to scream SHUT UP ALREADY!!! And the conversation does end, the minute I get back into my car after my workout. Then the only voice that I hear is my own saying – I did it, good job!

{NOW YOUR TURN:} Do you have the Good Angel/ Bad Angel taking up residence on your shoulders? How to do you silence their arguments? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments below.