As I was on my daily walk today, decked out in my navy blue t-shirt with the word TRANSFORM scripted on the front of it, it occurred to me that if I want to transform any aspect of my life, there are several essential ingredients.

1-Quoting Joe Jackson “You can’t get what you want, til you know what you want.”

2-Setting intention. Declaring out loud what it is I want to call in.

3-Envisioning myself crossing the finishing line as I achieve whatever it is I have in mind.

4-Scripting it out (lucky for me that I’m a writer:)

5-Determination and resilience to see it through to completion without giving up.

6-Inspired action.

Of all of the components, the last one can be the most challenging for me. Maybe for you too.

After the heart attack in June, my desire, intention, vision, wordsmithing, determination and inspired action have been aimed toward recovery and creating a whole new healthy life. I have plenty of incentive and motivation to do so, since I have more work to do before I ‘leave the building.’

I go to cardiac rehab three times a week and walk 30-45 minutes each day in addition. I have lost weight and inches as a result and had expected to have shed more pounds with all of that activity.  Here’s the glitch.  I have still succumbed to the call of unnecessary caloric intake. Not listening to my body and instead heeding my emotions has slowed peeling off the layers. As I am writing this, I am amply aware that I am not physically hungry. I had dinner less than an hour ago, following my walk. If I were to give in to my desires for dessert, I would be moving farther from my weight goal than toward it. In the moment, I have a stronger inclination to steer clear of the kitchen.

I have also been chanting this mantra to re-program my thoughts and thus my body’s response to them “I am healthier and stronger, slimmer and trimmer, lighter and thinner every day.” It feels good to hear those words echoing in my head.

Each time I am tempted to eat when I am truly not hungry and am responding to an emotional stimulus, I will stop and ask myself how much this caterpillar wants to transform into a butterfly.