I rise for day one again, a mental Monday when time feels heavy and motivation fosters commitment to clean food and physical strength of heart and muscle. The impetus to kick the cupcake away from heading to my anticipatory mouth contains loose wiring; detached self-care and self-love confronts and surrenders to the encounter. My long-term plan gone awry again, self-respect dangles, and cake crumbs dropping from my lips seems implausible. Yet immediate gratification beckons more sweets, impulsive responses damage me further, and an ache within wants change. Day one starts with a momentary quiver, wavering, teetering until momentum turns the corner near the ledge.

Unaccompanied, lost, and scared, perilously close to the cliff’s edge, a slight breeze has the potential of dumping me to rock bottom, where I began this journey long ago. I know friends nearby support me, would answer the call with the phone-a-friend option. Yet self-accountability beckons me to bridge the gap between dependence upon them and self-action. No longer do my days consist of holding others accountable for my successes and failures. Sustainable lifestyles have days of reckoning when we stand at the crossroad of do or don’t, regardless of social support or not. Disconnected by what others think and do, acting on my own behalf becomes essential.

Unraveling results find me at Day One, not at ground zero. My past repeating, I peel fat layers again; returned pounds beckon for change. Taking stock, I acknowledge past distance traveled and extensive knowledge accumulated. I return along a shorter route with clearance to run, power to self-engage, and perseverance to go the distance as my best self reaches fruition. Delayed gratification meets my commitment and erases the cookies that had me crumbling. Day one marks the first day of the rest of my life. Embrace rather than resist its return and I alter my results allowing a second day to prosper with strength and momentum.