Wii Fit puckered up to me today...

...and my mouth is bleeding -- wahoo!

Stepped on the scale this morning and felt relieved: Up 3.7 pounds since the last time I weighed myself, just five days ago. Finally! My body is being honest with me.

I've been eating like a typical American at Christmastime: Too much! And, until today, getting away with it, at least on the scale. When I was up 2/2.5 pounds, I could say to myself, "Eh, what's a couple pounds? Could be water weight." Now I can't ignore the needle. The tally is +5.7 pounds, and I'm grateful for the reality check. (To me, there's nothing worse than a "false positive" report. It messes with my sense of integrity. Give me the truth -- the whole ugly, messy truth. Say it nicely, if you can, but please be plain with me. I'll always prefer a forthright assessment before a sugar-coated half-truth!)

"An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips." - Proverbs 24:26

So, I'm taking a deep breath, dusting off my mindset, my journal (once I find it -- it seems to have disappeared amid the Christmas clutter), and my Eat To Live book.

Lest you think me merely vain (because I am vain, although I aspire not to be), the deeper reason I care about my overeating is that it represents an unhealthy method of coping with stress that I believe to be destructive to my mind, body and spirit. I care about my mind, body and spirit because their well-being...my well-being...is important to the people I love, people who depend on me, people whose own lives would be diminished in love, joy and strength if I were not part of them. That's quite a statement, isn't it?

Lest you dismiss me as egotistical (because I am also egotistical, although I aspire not to be), this Christmas Eve, I think it proper to acknowledge the importance of my "Wonderful Life," my unique position on the planet, my personal contributions to the good of my family, my community, our society, the world, the universe! I suppose it's a lot to surmise from one session on the scale, but to me, it means that much: I must try my best to be healthy and whole -- body, mind and spirit -- not just so I look good or even so I live long, but so I am good and so I live well. So that the lives of the people I love are richer, fuller, better because mine is a healthy, robust, nurturing presence in them.

"Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!" - George Bailey, It's A Wonderful Life

I take nothing for granted. Not even my good health. No more cookies for me this Christmas. Just a dose of reality and a return to the joy of Eating To Live...eating to live well, for my own sake, and also yours! I love you, dear readers. Merry Christmas!