Day 10 – Progress Not Perfection

Do you recall when I stated this journey, I said I always felt that I had to get up at 5AM to go to the gym or I wouldn’t go? Well, I haven’t done that once. I get up at 6 or 7AM and get to the gym at whatever time I get ready to go. And guess what? I’m perfectly fine going at any time and I get my workout in. My reasoning for going at 5AM was to not have to deal with a crowded gym and running into people I know. I have been at several different times in the morning and I haven’t one had to wait for anything and the place was busy but never crowded. I have run into several people I know, chatted a bit and went on my way. It’s actually very nice to see my friends dong their best to stay healthy. So that dumb story I was telling myself was just that…a story.

I decided to stay in bed a little longer today. I got to bed a little late and the meeting I had on my calendar for this morning was postponed for a couple of weeks, so I decided to be lazy. It’s now almost 11AM and I still haven’t gotten to the gym, but I will.

My MO every morning is to get up, brush my teeth and get dressed for the gym. If I’m already in my workout clothes, I’m not going to go anywhere else dressed like this so I can only go to the gym or go for a walk. It’s already a little too warm to walk.

I love walking but since my foot injury many months ago, I am in pain after a nice long walk so I don’t do it very often. I really miss it though. Someone once told me I was like a Masai warrior because anywhere you drove in town, you were likely to see me walking. I would walk for miles, come home and collapse in the hammock for a nice nap in the shade of the crabapple tree. My goal is to find my way back to being able to walk like that again. I think taking off some weight will assist in that goal.

I have always been an ‘all or nothing’ person which may be a sign of a perfectionist. I’m not a perfectionist in the sense that I think everything has to be exact and perfect, but I think I use my ‘all or nothing’ mentality as an excuse to procrastinate. Hence, the ‘5AM or bust’ need to go to the gym.

Yesterday I went to my favorite Thai restaurant for lunch and probably should have packed half my lunch to go and only eaten half of it then, but I ate the whole thing. I still was not hungry at 5PM for dinner and because I’m practicing intermittent fasting,  I did not eat dinner and when I got up this morning,  was fine. Yesterday I really only had one full meal, which was that Thai lunch. Breakfast was very light because I ate after exercise and only had a short time before lunch. So even though I probably had a very calorically dense lunch, I didn’t exacerbate the issue by continuing to eat for the rest of the day. Progress not perfection. I am really trying to ditch that ‘all or nothing’ approach in everything I do.

Where is your perfectionism keeping you from accomplishing what you want to have the life you want? Tell me in the comments.

In case you missed my post on June 30th, I am using this 31 day challenge to hold myself accountable for walking my talk. Several years ago, I was able to take off 135 pounds and essentially save my own life. I have regained much of that weight so I am working my way back down.

If you choose to join me on this journey, I hope I am able to impart some nutritional and lifestyle wisdom. Even though I may have gone off the rails temporarily I can still share some of my first hand experience as well as my acquired knowledge and training to help you make the right changes for your best life.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.