Tuesday Talk, June 25th

Happy Tuesday friends!  Today I thought we'd talk about something that seems to plague all of us from time to time no matter what our journey is...all or nothing thinking.  For myself, I know it has plagued me when I was practicing for my piano recitals when I was in grade school, when I was working on my routine for competition or even in my weight loss journey.  Why is it that even if it is something that we aren't "experts" at, we expect perfection?  I don't know about you, but I somehow expect myself to doing something like I would if I had numerous years of experience at it.  Let's be honest, there are things that I am not and will not be perfect out.  As the saying goes, should you throw the baby out with the bathwater?  Um, no.  One of the things that I do to remind myself not to expect perfection is to ask myself if I'd say that to a friend or how I would feel if a friend said that to me in the way that I was staying it to myself.  Most times, honestly, the answer is no.  I certainly would not put up with someone talking to me or treating me in the way that I do myself.  I've been on this journey for more years than I'd like to count, during that time many things have changed.  I am no longer just going to put fake stuff in my body.  That's a choice that I make for myself.  It's my boy and my journey and I can make those decisions for myself in that regard.  Things I have learned:  

Life happens.  There are going to be celebrations/birthdays/anniversaries and the like.  I can make the choice to eat that piece of cake or that cookie, or like this past Sunday, that Zebra cake.  But what do I do after "life happens"?  You pick up and move on.  You and I can't get so caught up with the "what if's" and wish we'd made a different choice.  What's done is done.  You can't change your past, only what you do going forward.

There are times that we overindulge.  The big thing is that if I chose to have a burger and cheese fries, I don't have to say well I can never get back on plan so why should I try?  No, I say I can have it and enjoy it and now I move on and get back on track or take a walk.  

I know if I expect perfection repeatedly out of myself during this journey, I'm not going to enjoy the process and I'm really striving to focus on enjoy myself and living my life while continuing to move forward with losing and coming up with new meal plans/meal ideas.  It's a great feeling to realize that I can forgive myself for having that piece of cake, or two, and focus on doing better rather than to just throw my hands up and say I give up because I couldn't do "x".  I'm human, I know it's shocking, but I am.  How do you handle that all or nothing mentality?  Positive self talk? I'd love to hear how you combat it.  Sharing an idea might help someone else!  Have a great day!