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By Tory Klementsen, Certified Personal Wellness Professional

Do you like to make choices in your life, or would you rather leave things to chance?

Of course that’s a very broad question. Sometimes it is fun to leave things to chance. Chance can be spontaneous and exciting! But in the more important things in life, I would venture to guess that most of us would prefer to exercise our rights to make a CHOICE. 

When it comes to your health, ask yourself honestly...how much do you leave to CHOICE and how much do you leave to CHANCE.

When I was first starting to lose weight I went through periods of feeling resentment over how hard and “unfun” weight loss was. I would indulge in a little bit of feeling spoiled and complain and whine because I “hated” exercise and wanted to just eat like a  “normal” person. Then one day I had an epiphany.

I did have a choice, and my choice was going to either INCREASE or REDUCE the chance that I’d deal with lifestyle related illnesses down the line. So I did inventory:

I could either:

Journal my food every day, choosing what I wanted to eat

or

I could wait until I had to go on a restricted diet, and eat what a doctor tells me I have to eat

I could:

Count calories

or

Count pills I need to take to control the damage I’d done to my body with former choices

I could:

Wake up in the morning sore from a fulfilling workout from the day before

or

Wake up in the morning sore because my body is aging at a faster rate than it should from living a sedentary lifestyle

I could:

Exercise every day, choosing what I get to do and experience while I get my sweat on 

or

Go to physical therapy and doctor’s appointments to deal with the bone density loss and joint damage due to being overweight.

After doing this personal inventory, I realized that my choices today were going to reduce my risk of chances down the road. Sure, I could have stayed at about 240 pounds and taken the chance that I would not have ended up with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, joint damage, metabolic syndrome, and other obesity related health issues. 

Or I could make the CHOICE to ensure that the CHANCE that any of that would happen would be very low. 

So next time you’re feeling frustrated and want to quit, remember that when you quit you leave a lot of health to chance, and you’re too good for that. You make the choice DAILY to be a better, stronger, healthier person.