Finish Strong!

Journal entry 2/5/10: Weight = 171 lbs; Coinage = $1.32
Journal entry 2/6/10: Weight = 171.8 lbs; Coinage $2.60
Journal Entry 2/7/10: Weight = 171.8; Coinage = $2.78, one super find of two quarters in the coin return of a pay telephone. Finding money in pay telephones, once a frequent occurring effort, is now very rare.

Feature Entry: Finish Strong
The headline on this morning’s Times Picayune reminded the New Orleans Saints football team to “finish strong.” At the beginning of the season star quarterback Drew Brees purchased a book called Finish-Strong for every member of the team. The slogan, coined by author Dan Green has been the Saints mantra all season long. Last year’s team lost several games in the fourth quarter.

As a weight watcher, the expression also resonates with portion control and exercise. It is not enough to lose weight, I must keep it off. When the scales give me a friendly reading, if not careful, I will use the lost poundage as “money in the bank,” or as justification to serve up a big bowl of ice cream with a fudge brownie. That is not finishing strong.

Green indicates that a Finish Strong attitude is about choice. As individuals, we are the only ones that have the power to successfully meet the challenges before us. Keeping weight off is a major challenge even for thin people. What they have that keeps them thin is not a friendly metabolism but a highly developed sense of personal accountability when it comes to food and exercise. Each day when faced with negative choices, they adopt a finish-strong mentality. Yes to exercise, no to unhealthy fatty and sugary foods. So how will we choose, lie down, settle and quit, or move forward toward our goal of healthy weight control.

How can we moneywalkers finish strong? By remembering the big four for weight control: weigh every day, exercise, eat breakfast, and practice portion control.

Go Saints!

MoneyWalker