As this month comes to a close I’m getting slightly introspective about it. I have been far from perfect this month. I have had outings with friends, and parties, and treat meals that turned into treat days. I have missed workouts. The wonderful part is, after each “not perfect” moment I kept right on going. Each day was a new day and a new opportunity to treat myself right, and I just “kept swimming” through this weight lose challenge. I’ve succeeded!
In the past if I thought about things too much I would end up taking a fatalistic approach of “oh, I ate junk food… might as well eat more, today is shot anyway!” If I wasn’t doing a perfect job of eating all the right foods and getting in every workout I would basically give up. Now, this hasn’t been true my whole life. In fact, when I was at my happiest and healthiest through college and grad school I didn’t have the all-or-nothing attitude. I treated myself well and things fell into place. When stress sets in though, I guess I take it out with eating too much, drinking too much, and sending myself on guilt trips about that as well as about how I’m simply not working out enough!
So, hopefully this month has finally taught me that I don’t have to be perfect! I can make lots of positive progress even if I end up drinking a bottle of wine and some chocolate randomly on a Wednesday evening… and do it again the next Wednesday! Shaun T always talks about the 85/15 approach to food. I think I’m actually starting to GET it! Now, to continue doing it so that even if things gets stressful again in life, which I’m sure they will, I can stay healthy, and remember that life isn’t about all-or-nothing!