Want to know what it feels like to regain control over yourself again?

Amazing! That’s what it feels like.

Let’s get out with “shameless eating” first.

Yep, I Oktoberfested with the best of ’em. I tenderloin sammiched it, soft drink quenching my thirst chugging, pineapple whip curing ice cream cone fun, elephant ear sugary finger licking, lemon shook my way through that fest and I do not for one second regret it.

Did I sure miss not hitting my goal of running that 5K? Yep. That was rough. Stupid ankle.

I am excited to tell you all about the plus side of October, though.

Folks, I am back to that internal fire-burning feeling of “look at me, I did it” mentality.

Enough of this wishy-washy, poor me, I have too much stress to get time in to cook or exercise.

In the words of my dear friend Anne, “Take your day to feel sorry for yourself, then quit wallowing. Good stuff happens when it is the right time.”

So drum roll, please. No, serious drum roll here. Are you doing it?

OK, I have lost 7.4 pounds.

I will take that win all month long. I guess all I needed was a lemon shake-up and cheese curds.

Turns out, I just needed to get out of my own head.

I needed to do what worked. Remember last month’s startling newsflash for the world? It was a turning point for me.

Oftentimes, we allow others to influence us in any capacity. It could be happening right now to you.

You are letting your 2-year-old dictate to you when bedtime is. You are allowing your classmate to get you to go against your better judgment. You are allowing your co-worker to use you as a steppingstone.

We are all guilty in several instances of allowing others to influence us.

How do you stop that? Get out of your head, back to what you know is right.

You set the bedtime. You pass on the late-night joyride. You tell your boss who came up with the idea.

When you set idly by just stewing in your head, you are taking away things from your own peace, your inner peace. It needs to not only define you but guide you.

Listen, I am not about to tell you it doesn’t happen to me. It does. I am human.

But when I release that influence and get back to what I know is right, I get myself back into control.

As people (daughters, sons, individuals), we are looking for approval. We are seeking that “I made you happy.” But what we forget is it is ourselves who we need to make happy first.

Happy is an internal feeling we have, and when we feel that, we work harder, do more, feel better.

So start tomorrow. Heck, start right now if you want, but start fresh.

Start working to make you happy — not your mom, your husband, your boss, your brother, your classmate. Make yourself happy.

Do something that gives you that internal happy feeling and see if you don’t push harder to keep achieving it.

Don’t work for the approval of others. At the end of the day, you are all you can count on.

My happy feeling can come in many forms. There isn’t just one way, so maybe you have many forms of happy, as well. I encourage you to find your way back to just one way.

I have a new cardio routine I have been trying, and it seems to be doing it, and I love it. I am focusing on core training and HITT workouts and combining with strength and walking or the elliptical.

What I want you to take away is that if someone can stumble as many times as I have and still find a way to keep going, so can you.

Don’t have a cheerleader, accountability partner or someone to vent to? Dial me up or Facebook me.

Let’s do this.

Any step made together is a step worth taking.

Heather Chase is a Seymour resident chronicling her weight-loss and fitness journey. She is writing a monthly column, published on the final Friday of each month, for one year with The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].