Build Your House, Brick by Brick
We had my son’s birthday party last weekend, and it was great! Lots of friends, toys, games, music — and food! LOTS of food. Way too much actually.
We had a huge chocolate cake from Costco, and as I was cutting a piece for myself, my dad, who was tasked with taking video, came around with his phone and joked that he was going to put the video of me eating cake on instagram and expose me!
Of course he was kidding, but it reminded me how common it is for people to think that they can’t have their cake and eat it too – that they can’t work on their fitness and have treats once in a while.
In my own personal experience and working with clients, I learned that the biggest mistake you can make is having an all-or-nothing mentality. No one can do it perfectly all the time – and there’s no need to!
Learning how to be flexible while maintaining control is the way to make this stuff work.
What do I mean by maintaining control?
Let’s say youre going to a birthday party and you know there’s going to be cake and that’s your weakness. Here are a few ways you can approach it:
- Whether or not youre tracking your food, account for it ahead of time. Have meals & snacks with less carbs and fat than you otherwise would for the rest of the day to “make room” for the cake without going off track.
- If this is really a rare occurrence, decide that youre just going to enjoy it and not worry about “fitting it in.”
- Instead of taking a whole piece, put just a couple bites worth on your plate. And instead of mindlessly shovelling it in your mouth while chatting with friends, take a minute to really enjoy it – pay attention to the taste, the texture. One bite thoroughly appreciated is more enjoyable than a huge piece you eat without noticing.
Think of your health journey as building a house.
Every workout, every walk, every full night of sleep, every “on track” meal is another brick you lay.
Some days you’ll lay several bricks.
Some days will go by without any.
Sometimes it’ll feel like bricks are getting knocked off.
It’s all good – as long as you never give up on the project.
Keep coming back to it and keep laying bricks as often as you can.
Eventually you’ll look up and realize you’ve built your house!
Remember – if this is going to be something you can sustain for years (or decades even!) you have to be able to make it work for your life. Find the balance that gives you enough progress while still allowing you to enjoy the little things, like chocolate cake.