Stinkin' Thinkin'

Week 3 of baby stepping into 2018 and my thinking is getting in my way. I know better, but just like pretty much everyone else on the planet, my crazy thinking can get in my way more often than I'd like. Why is it there our minds always like to go back to "the good 'ole days?!" For me, the good ole days were before I was 40. My body is not the same. It's not bad, it's just different. Yet I expect it to respond the way it did when it was 35 (I regret to say that was 8 years ago!)

I caught myself as I often do and I realized that my own thinking was brining me down. It was discouraging me...and it's only week 3. We always seem to have these unrealistic expectations of ourselves. That's the stinkin' thinkin' that makes us give up far too soon.

Usually when I set a goal it often culminates with me standing on stage some 3-4 months later. This is the first time I have set a goal that is about sustainable balance. It's different. It's a slower pace. It's...realistic. Maybe you have set big goals in the past that didn't end in the stage but were equally as "drastic". You overhauled your diet and your changed your workout program and 90 days later you had lost 20 pounds (or whatever) only for that goal to be met and back where you started a year later. Whether your pendulum swings far or just slightly - going at change in a slow, methodical way takes patience and persistence. All too often we get in our own way by becoming impatient with the lack of immediate gratification.

So as I preach patience to myself today, I am preaching to you, too, if you need it. Sustainable results take time. They don't happen overnight...even though we want to see them when we wake up tomorrow morning. If you find yourself discouraged because some other person you saw on Instagram last 10 pounds in their first week on their "lose weight NOW" program, remind yourself that a balanced process takes time and is proven to last longer.

I don't know about you, but I want the habits I'm building now to last me for a long time. I want to eat healthy but if I want a few M&Ms later today I don't want to feel like I "can't" or feel bad because I did. I want to live balanced. With wine and pizza that isn't forbidden.

When the stinkin' thinkin' comes at you and you feel discouraged and like giving up, don't let it get to you. You are on the right track. ONE baby step after another.