Recently an article popped up in my on line reading called “11 people who could wreck your diet”. This article was originally posted on Health.com, and was written by Linda Melone. In the article she lists 11 types of people in our everyday lives that might wreck our diet. Everyone from significant others, to business clients are potential saboteurs by Linda’s reckoning.

I read the article all the way through, and there are some important tips to consider. There are tips for how to talk to a friend or spouse about your journey towards health. Also included are tips on how to plan ahead for business meals and parties, and having strategies for getting through them.

After reading the article through, I was left with just one thought. No one can wreck my diet except me. I have very supportive people in my life who are behind me 100%, but even if I didn’t it shouldn’t matter. Once I was really ready to lose weight and be healthier, no one in my life could get in my way.

I have a spouse who isn’t measuring points right now. I have co-workers who go to lunch frequently and invite me along. I have been to parties where snacks were gushing forth. I have been out for a few drinks with friends. None of those situations sabotaged or wrecked my diet. If I chose to eat more as a result of one or more of those things, then there is only one person who wrecked my diet – me.

Since starting this journey I have been reading more articles and blogs about being healthier. Mixed in have been some blogs about people who are also trying to make a positive difference in their lives. I have seen many stories about successes, failures and setbacks. In all of those stories, to my reckoning, the only person to blame for the setback was the person who was dieting. I have yet to read of a tragic story involving guns being held to a person’s head to force them to eat.

If you are a follower of my blog who is also dieting, please do not take offense. Losing weight is hard, and getting to better habits in life takes time and effort. I know first hand how hard it is to be in a big group of people who are devouring snacks and not want to join in, or to be at a table with a giant amount of food being passed, and taking only a small portion. And, I will be the first to admit that there have been hundreds of times in my life where I succumbed to that temptation. And, I am sure I blamed the circumstances as well. What I am here to say today is that only I control what I eat.

The fact for me is that all those times when I let others influence me to eat more were just instances when I was not yet ready to diet. Now I am ready, now I am dedicated, and now I am in charge. I may not always be in this state of mind, but for now I am riding the wave of taking charge of my life! In my world, there is only ONE person who can wreck my diet, and that is me. Everyone else can be a distraction if they want, but if they influence me to eat more than I should, they aren’t saboteurs, they are excuses.