Friend of Julie: Perfection

Once in a while perfection happens and when it does - for a brief moment - all is well in the universe. I had such a moment today while eating a warm hard-boiled egg. After taking a second bite of my egg, I realized I was holding the most perfect hard-boiled egg I've ever cooked. I've had moments like this on my key weight loss journey. I suspect you have too.

Perfection comes in mysterious ways, even in hard-boiled egg. Photo by Theresa

Yesterday was a perfect day. I didn't plan for a perfect day, but as my day unfolded, I accomplished the small goals I set out for myself and there was even room for spontaneity. Looking back, I contribute my "success" to keeping things simple. I stayed out of overwhelm, which is easy as long as I refrain from multitasking, and I stayed focused on my goals for the day. Oh, and I stayed on program: I ate clean and I exercised!

Perfection? Yes! Does this happen every day? No.

Two days ago I didn't meet my daily goal of  walking 10,000 steps. I had good intentions, but I didn't see them through, so I fell short. Perfection? No, but I am still moving toward my goal size because I continue to choose to exercise. I let go of my perfection expectations and I accept that some days I'm not going to meet my daily walking goal.

The spontaneous event that happened yesterday: I said yes to an opportunity to walk just ten minutes after getting home from walking with a key-friend. Consequently I walked over 17,000 steps yesterday. I wasn't making up for the day before, I walked extra steps because of a spontaneous invite and because it was fun.

Perfectionism is not in the equation when it comes to food. Life is imperfect, but I get to choose what foods I eat. When I choose to ignore the rules, such as cheese is a condiment or that there are limits with yogurt, I am making a choice to postpone reaching my goal size.

The key weight loss program is about lifestyle changes, it's not about perfection. When we fall short of our program goals, we have the choice to keep moving forward or not.

Let go of perfection. Let go of mistakes and stay the course. Live your best life by choosing to:

• stay on program
• exercise
• learn maintenance