On the quest to get healthy, just as in many other goals, one of the biggest barriers to success is the dual theme of procrastination and perfection.
Procrastination is often the result of perfectionist thinking. It’s the idea that “if I can’t do this perfect, I’m not doing it. I will wait until it can be perfect.” Perfectionism is one of the most sinister traps that holds many of us back from truly succeeding at our health goals (and many others) because it sounds wonderful and ideal to be “perfect”. But in the realm of eating well, losing weight, and getting control of our health, it can result in years of yo-yo dieting and a restricting mentality. How many of us have decided on any given day, that since we ate 3 cookies and didn’t stick to our “plan” we might as well just eat pizza for dinner and then “start again” tomorrow or next week?
The down side to that is that all of the toxins we put into our bodies while we are waiting for that magical “perfect day” when we will be able to do it perfectly. Perfect is a far-fetched notion because truly, there is no such thing.
When you notice yourself in that future-thinking mode, grab your power immediately in that moment, and eat something healthy. The only time any of us has is literally, right this second. So when the thoughts of “tomorrow I will start” begin to cloud your head and tempt you with another processed, fat-filled dinner, choose to own your power in the present an opt for some vegetable soup, some brown rice pasta, a salad or some quinoa and beans.
When you empower yourself in that moment to make that choice and eat something healthy, even on a day when you had the three cookies (or more!), you are starting to re-wire your brain, and training it to make good choices in the face of the perfectionist trap.
