How to Step Away from the Donuts!

"Just back away from the donuts, sir, and no one will get hurt."

Even a Beachbody Coach will get tempted from time to time.

As you know, I just started another round of P90X this week. I'm happy to report that I passed my first big test of this round.

Yesterday, was Wednesday. In our operating room, Wednesday means Maris day. Maris, a volunteer who works every Wednesday on second shift, LOVES to bake. She's pretty darn good at it, too. Maris bakes enough goodies to give a sugar high to a medium sized army. She brings plates, tins, and pans full of every home-made goody you could imagine to a little room just off the recovery room every Wednesday evening.

Picture that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean where the Pirates are in a cave filled with all the Treasure of Davy Jones, except instead of gold and jewels, the cave is filled with brownies and chocolate macadamia nut cookies!

Yesterday, after working for 13 hours, I dropped a patient off in the recovery room only to see Maris's smiling face. That could only mean one thing- the cave was stocked!

I thought about it for a few seconds, then decided to check it out.

All I could think of was not how good it would taste, but how good it would feel to keep on walking. So I did. And let me tell you, it felt great!

There are two reasons I was easily able to resist the temptation of the goody cave.

Number one- I had prepared ahead for a long day and packed enough clean food so that I could eat several small meals throughout the day and not get overly hungry.

Number two- I had "Stacked my Why's." You may have heard me talk about the importance of your "WHY" in getting you to change your behavior to achieve your goals. Stacking whys is simply finding multiple reasons to adopt the behavior you want and fight off the behavior you want to avoid. My usual whys include wanting to be healthy, live long, be able to chase around small children in the next few years, and to be a good example as a coach. In addition, a new why is to get in great shape and look good for my wedding in 3 months.

All I had to do was think about my whys, and my course of action became clear. Walking away was the only choice.

As Tony Horton asks, "Which will it be for you today? The pleasure of discipline or the pain of regret?"

Slowly, carefully, step away from the donuts!