“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. —- Steve Jobs, American Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Apple

For many of us, the one thing we have truly wanted for a long time is to be thin. A girlfriend of mine used to always joke: “If we didn’t have our weight to worry about, what would we possibly do with all that extra brain space that would be freed up??” Funny but she made a good point.—–Getting “thin” (such a relative term that I cringe to use it anymore!) takes time and that is probably one of the biggest road blocks in getting there. We lose patience, focus and faith during the process and then give up. But here is my question: Is there something else our heart is craving besides just a “thin body”? I think there absolutely is more to this desire. If we dig deep, this journey isn’t just about a thinner waist or smaller backside. Our heart is yearning for control and acceptance from ourselves. When I was 75 pounds heavier, I didn’t like how I looked and I didn’t want to accept myself that way, but I realized that I had to accept the moment for what it was. This moment is all we have and rather than seeing that as depressing, we can see it as 100 percent manageable. The process of gaining control over not only our thoughts, but also our actions is a process we can succeed at right now. It is like peeling away the layers of an onion and taking pleasure in each step. We can’t control what others do, say or think of us but it doesn’t matter. We can control the one thing that DOES matter: How we see and think of ourselves. We deserve to live a happy, joyful life and being in control of our thoughts and behaviors allows us to do that. A WW member and friend gave me the cutest wooden sign that I have hung in my kitchen and it reads: “You’ve come too far to take orders from a cookie!”. Thanks, Sue!!——Today, listen to your heart not your “evil twin”. Commit to shutting down any negative self talk that enters your mind. Just say NO to it and don’t allow yourself to go there. Once you’ve quieted the evil twin, your heart and intuition will take over and “Everything else will become secondary.”—-