You don't have to be perfect to be healthy

Hello my dear online family!!

Today's blog will not be my usual blog post. Today I wanted to speak from the heart and talk about something that I see many of my clients struggle with every day. Please excuse the language on the photo above but I really thought it pretty much sums things up! And its how I look at everything in life. It's my life and I choose how to live it and what other people do does not dictate how I live my life. I live my life for my happiness and so should all of you.

I remember as a child and adolescent there always seemed to be a competitive nature among girls. Everyone wanting to fit in and conform to a specific set of traits or rules that would make us just like all the other girls that we looked up to and emulated, always afraid to just be ourselves and rock our own personality and style.

As I became an adult I thought those kinds of feelings and insecurities would disappear in all of us and that being a grown up meant being comfortable with who we are and having the confidence to finally strut our stuff and own who we really were.

But what I learned was that being exposed to so much marketing, and social media, and social pressure, we are now even more vulnerable to comparison envy! Constantly looking at what other people are doing and the results they are achieving. Expecting ourselves to have the same results and when we fail we often give-up because we can never live up to what others are doing.

As women our expectations for ourselves and our lives are so high that we often cant live up to them and we fall into this downward spiral of self doubt and criticism.

Vegan, vegetarian, paleo, GAPS, macrobiotic, and the list goes on. Everyone has a friend or family member doing one of these diets that is feeling great, looks amazing, and her life seems to be the picture of perfection.

But how can you compete with all of these people doing so many different things. You are only one person. And you are completely unique. Wouldn't it be nice to just be you and do what makes you feel good and what makes you happy? Just because a particular diet works for someone you know doesn't mean it is right for you and you shouldn't kill yourself over trying to live that same way.

I get clients all the time that want to wait to come in to start a program. They are scared to change their diets, or start to exercise, or change lifestyle habits because they feel like they cannot be perfect and that means failure. But the truth is, there is no failure in creating a healthier lifestyle unless you do absolutely NOTHING! 

This is the purpose of my post today. I'm here to tell you that you don't have to be perfect to be healthy! You don't have to wait until the "right time" to make changes. You don't have to put off change because you cannot give it 100%. Imagine changing just 20% of what you do for a healthier version and the results that you would see. 

You say you don't have time to start exercising until your kids are out of school for the summer. What if you could carve out just 10 minutes every day for exercise....do you think over the school year you would feel and possibly see a difference? My bet is a big YES!

And you say that you don't have time to cook healthy meals with your work schedule and social calendar. What if you got up 15 minutes early in the morning and threw some veggies and protein in the crock pot so you had a nice healthy home cooked meal when you got home from work in the evening instead of stopping by a fast food restaurant on the way home?

Simple enough right? That's all it takes my love's!!!! Its as simple as making those small changes and sooner or later they will add up. Before you know it your 10 minute daily workouts will turn into 20 because you will have more energy to get up just a bit earlier or stay up a tad later. And instead of just preparing your healthy dinner in the crock pot you are now taking an hour on Sunday nights to prepare some grab and go healthy meals for the work week instead of grabbing donuts and coffee at Starbucks on the way to work.

Perfection isn't necessary and it certainty isn't very enjoyable. In fact perfect is pretty lame. Imperfections are what makes life interesting. I've been in this business for over 10 years and do you think I am perfect? Absolutely not. I do what I can when I can. But let me tell you that as you start to make healthier choices over time, it becomes a choice not a chore. I like being healthy and feeling great so 9 out of 10 times now I choose healthy over not. But you know what??? I'm human and sometimes I like to just say F#@% it and do something out of my norm even if its not the healthiest choice.

So go out there and make some healthier choices. Even if they are simple and seem trivial to you. Remember that those small changes over time add up to big results and guess what?? Those small changes that brought big results will be lasting. Its those crazy fad diets of the week and major changes overnight that often result in short term results.

Leave me a post in the comments and let me know what small changes you are making and remember that you will never be perfect so get that outta your head!!!!! Be you! Be the person that makes you happy and move at your own pace and never ever compare yourself to anyone else because you will never be them and they will never be you.

As always.......In good health and happiness,

Brandy Augustine PhD