The Connection Runners

I'll let you in on a couple of secrets...

1. I overindulged on Christmas. BIG TIME.

2. I'm not stressing it.

Yes! I ate WAY too much on Christmas. I didn't NEED that much food, but I sure WANTED it.

I get emails all the time asking about how I lost weight so quickly, how am I so consistent, how do I manage to never "fall off the wagon".

The simple truth is I'm not perfect. Yes, I've lost 128 pounds, but that doesn't make me some sort of weight loss god. I don't have a halo of brussels sprouts over my head. I indulge too. Sometimes I go overboard. Occasionally it's just plain glutenous.

In the past I would feel guilty for these "slip ups". I would beat myself up over it, I would berate myself to the point where I made myself feel it was useless to even TRY to eat healthy. I had almost convinced myself I needed to just accept I would always be obese. All that negative energy over something as benign as food.

But then something changed. During my weight loss journey last year, I mentally turned the switch. I gave myself PERMISSION to be imperfect. I acknowledged that YES I might overindulge sometimes, but those few times don't totally negate my new healthy habits.

So this is how last week went:

-I ate healthy and worked out all week.
-On Christmas day I indulged.
-The day after Christmas (yesterday) I was back to eating healthy and working out.

Hmmmmm... ... did you notice something?

Instead of letting one "off" day start a whole cycle of overeating I simply moved on to the next day. I enjoyed that food on Christmas. I don't regret it. And my healthy habits are still in place.

So when people ask me how I managed to lose weight so consistently, I think I should answer by saying "By giving myself permission to be imperfect".