Listen, I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. So let’s stop trying to be — and stop putting so much pressure on ourselves and others to be this perfect image built up in our minds.

(Yep, heated right out of the gates!)

The other day I published this Facebook Live Video in a moment of vulnerability, but also hoping to inspire those of you who do feel that pressure to never to slip up. The shame when you do.

The Perfect Ideology 

Many of the clients, who come to me initially before actually becoming my client, who I first meet tell me they tend to have an all-or-nothing mindset when it comes to food and fitness.

You know, they’ll do “really really good” for like 3-4 weeks, and then the excitement tapers off, and so does their compliance with the plan and program.

Or…

They’re “really really good” monday-friday, only to throw any and all caution to the wind, on fire, on the weekend. Start cycle again on Monday.

Look, I’m not judging at all. I think we’ve all experienced one of those situations or something similar at some point in our lives.

But here’s the thing: the reason for a sudden drop in motivation and compliance? the reason for rebelling from the plan and then starting over again?

The idea that we have to be perfect, and trying to live up to that idea.

But it’s so not about perfection. It’s so not about perfectly zeroing out your macros, or eating 100% clean foods, or being completely gassed after every single workout.

In fact, for most people, that sounds like a path to burn out at best, and disordered thinking or injury at worst.

So..much..pressure

And let’s talk about the pressure we put on ourselves for a minute.

When we have this perfectionist mindset, and we do fall off the rails for a hot minute? Whether it’s due to feeling restricted, life piling up (because it does pile up and become stressful, as we all know.) OH, talk about the shame! 

In come the flood of negative talk like,

I’m just not one of those kinds of people who this works for.

Why are my __(insert go-to hater-ade body part here)__ so disgusting?!

Why do I even try?

….have you ever uttered something of the like to yourself?

We put pressure on others, too, as well as look for others for validation.

As a trainer and nutrition coach, if I’m hanging out with someone (who isn’t a close friend who knows me,) I’ll get comments like:

“Oh! I shouldn’t order these fries around you!”  or,

“I feel like I shouldn’t have this cupcake with the trainer here!”

And instead of casting down judgment on their choices, do you know how that makes me feel? Like I can’t order fries, or like I shouldn’t eat a cupcake. 

But I’m over here not perfect either. In fact, when one of my long-standing online clients came to visit me, we headed out for lunch afterward, and I was so glad when no comments were made when I ordered a burger, fries, and a beer.

What does matter? (When it comes to your goals?)

Consistency.

It’s what you do day in and day out, on a consistent basis that helps you stay in the lane toward your goals. This means that ordering an ice cream cone along with your salad from the fast food restaurant while on a road trip doesn’t propel you off the wagon.

It’s simply a choice you made, that doesn’t necessarily move you closer toward your aesthetic goals. Now move on with your life, and make the very next choice you make one that does align with your goals. (Or doesn’t – I’m not here to tell you how to live your life,) but I am saying you don’t have to wait until “tomorrow,” or “Monday,” or “when you get back home” to make a simple choice that puts you right back in that goal-tackling lane.

Resilience

Resilience: the ability to recover from setbacks, adapt well to change, and keep going in the face of adversity.

Reading that definition, it sounds like resilience is pretty much the key to staying afloat in life, not just our fitness/nutrition goals, eh?

But it’s so, so true. We’re not on a 4-week sprint, (on which we will be perfect, of course,) and then it’s over – no more trying. Setbacks, change, and adversity are all things that can throw us off track.

It’s truly about what we do after we’ve been bent, pulled, or knocked down by those things that matter most.

So, how about we stop aiming for perfection, and start aiming to be consistent and resilient in our efforts — but also forgiving ourselves when we aren’t.

XOXO,

Paige