In my last post, I mentioned three factors in my nutrition that I hit every single day. You can see them here if you’d like, but that’s not exactly what I want to talk about today. Instead, I want to emphasize that they’re simply concepts that I aim for. They’re not rules, laws, or things I must do. It’s why I said they happen 90% of the time!

Well, I used up that remaining 10% this past weekend 😉 You see, this past weekend, on Saturday, I hit none of those things. I didn’t get my 4-6 servings of vegetables, I didn’t surround my workout with high protein/high carb/low fat meals, and I didn’t eat protein with every single meal.

But you know what I did do? Had a fun, stress-free day with my friends. After my workout and training a client, I met my girl Lauren for coffee (a vanilla latte) and a pedicure.

My point isn’t that you should completely derail from your fitness and nutrition commitments. Honestly, I probably could have done a better job at getting in some extra veggies, bringing snacks with me, and not eating the entire brownie sundae to myself. My point is that you shouldn’t take your fitness and nutrition goals SO damn seriously that it hinders you from focusing on what’s real.

Luckily, what was real for me on this day was friends, fun, and love. However, perhaps a more tangible situation is when something goes array in life. Maybe it’s a health scare, a death of a loved one, or a job loss or threat. When something like this happens, the focus on making sure you stay under X amount of carbs each day or your belly having some extra fluff around the middle scatters.

At the end of the day, I caught myself thinking about the day’s shenanigans, and how I basically threw my daily goals when it comes to nutrition out the window. (Please note that I didn’t say “eff it! I’ve already derailed from my plan – might as well just go off the deep end!) Instead of beating myself up, harboring guilt, or feeling shame, I focused on the positive:

• I lived completely in the moment, which for me is a top 3 stress killer
• I strengthened relationships with two of my best girlfriends and with my husband by really being present with them
• I made strides in my ongoing quest to end my perfectionism
• I worked my abs a TON – by laughing the entire day 😉

Besides, there’s always the option for vegetables, whole foods, and good nutrition choices in my next choice.