stop fighting the wrong battle

I'd just like to share the following excerpt from Sean's blog, The Daily Diary of a Winning Loser.  This guy is inspirational, having started at over 500 pounds, he's nearly at goal now and looking fabulous.  When I read the following today it felt empowering, so I wanted to share it with all of you.  Seriously, check out his blog, it's great.

Stop Fighting Food:

I traveled back into the archives for an excerpt from Day 15---I was still a long ways away from several wonderful epiphanies along this road, but the clarity and self-honesty factor was solidly in place, making those future epiphanies shine so bright. From September 29th, 2008:

What I like most about this way of losing weight? It's completely natural. I'm not taking any “magic” pills or taking any kind of drugs to help me fend off the cravings. It's just me and my decisions. That's it. Everyday I decide to enjoy 1500 calories. Everyday I decide to exercise. Everyday I decide to drink enough water. Everyday I decide to write about my daily progress and this helps me get up the next day and make the right decisions all over again.

You see, I've always known how to lose weight, but I kept letting my head get in the way. I kept making excuses. I kept gravitating to the line of least resistance. And at that line anything goes. It's real easy to make bad decisions. How many times have I been told by a doctor that I was flirting with death at this weight? Many. But it didn't make me cry until a doctors visit on June 10th of this year.

And still, after my flood of emotions that day, after a family group hug where all of us were crying our eyes out...still I made bad decisions. What clicked three months later? What made September 15th the day? Let's just say that there comes a time when enough is enough. The family is tired of hearing “someday” and enough is enough. There comes a time when you realize that you might have waited too long to save yourself, but never go there, don't believe it. That road is a dead end my friend. Because if you get started right now, this minute, maybe you still have a chance to make the right decisions. The decisions that can save your life, your family, and everything that's important to you. That's what I decided on September 15th.

It's not too late...unless they're putting the blanket over your head, to grab yourself and make the choices that will lead to your freedom from obesity. Fear of death isn't enough, but the fear of losing everything else that makes your life good, that's what can do it, at least it did for me. It's something I've written about and spoke about many times---choosing change before change chooses you. Because change is a comin' my friend. Nothing ever stays the same, and how wonderful is it to realize that some of your changes will be on your own terms? You can make it life-changing good, my friend. You deserve it.

Stop fighting the wrong battle. It's not the food that's the enemy. It's you. When you realize that food isn't the enemy and is actually your friend. And at the same time, you battle the self-destructive part of you that tries to destroy your success and progress...and at some point, you start becoming a friend to yourself with your self-honesty in good choices--then...well, then there isn't a battle left to fight. You will win, because you can't lose a fight that doesn't exist. People sometimes ask me, how is it so easy for you? I wish they could have been around my entire life to watch me hopelessly struggle as I spiraled to a certain early death in excess of 500 pounds...It was hard...but it was hard because I made it that way. Stop fighting the wrong battle and your clarity will come too.