Let’s talk about perfection, and how it doesn’t exist. Definition of Perfection: The condition, state or quality of being free from all flaws or defects.
Perfection Does Not Exist
As human beings, we are inherently flawed. Perfectionism gets a lot of hype in the media showing celebrities with clear skin, slim bodies, and the “picture perfect life”. Many celebrities these days will tell you that even they don’t look as perfect as magazine covers portray them. Media constantly shows us images, especially of women, that aren’t real. The photos are edited, airbrushed and made to show “perfection”.
This portrayal in the media where it is in full view gives us women a comparison complex. We compare our lives to those that are not real, and begin to believe we are not good enough. That we won’t measure up.
Aside from magazines, this “perfectionism” creeps into our lives through diets. We are told to follow strict rules, which are usually more harmful than helpful.
Then if we are unable to follow these rules to the letter, we believe that we have failed.
There were many times that I can recall not “eating perfectly” or being “bad” for eating foods that were against the rules.
Now I really want you to notice my language here, because it reflects guilt and shame about how I was eating.
Saying I didn’t “eat perfectly”, or that I was “being bad”, and eating foods that were “against the rules” are all thoughts that can actually sabotage your weight loss efforts.
Guilt and Shame are emotions that can be helpful to feel if you commit a crime, or act outside of your morals or values.
Eating a cookie, or less vegetables than you planned to, does NOT make you a bad person!
Watch your own thoughts around food to see if you are thinking you haven’t been good enough, or saying “I’m so bad” when you don’t stick with your goals.
How to Embrace Progress, Not Perfection
Once you identify these thoughts, and the feeling of guilt or shame around eating, you can begin to change these thoughts and stop beating yourself up.
Remember how at the beginning of this post I said that perfection doesn’t exist? This means that you are likely striving for something unattainable, which can lead you to giving up, or sabotaging your weight loss.
It is ok to let go of the idea of perfection. Rather, you can look for the progress you’ve made during your weight loss journey. By tracking progress, you can see not only how far you’ve come, but where you are able to go from here.
Tracking your progress allows you to create awareness, which can truly help you to keep going rather than giving up when you hit a set back.
My favorite tracking method tracks your habits. You can grab my Weight Loss Habits Tracker here. When you get the tracker, I will send a quick video to your email to describe how best to use the tracker.
This tracker uses goal setting, daily tracking and identifying barriers that you encounter throughout the week that keeps you from reaching your goals. Once you identify your barriers around habits you are trying to implement, you can make a plan to overcome the barriers you are running into.
Action Steps:
Watch your thoughts about food and eating to see if you are feeling guilt and shame around your habits.
Download the daily habit tracker to start losing weight and keep it off for good.