Day 4: 100 days challenge - Boundaries, not diets

I had absolutely no chance to get on the blog today.  I got up at 6:00 and did my workout.  In fact, I jumped right up when my alarm went off.  I got in my 30 minutes and felt great about it.  Today was one of those days where if I had put my workout off, I never would have gotten around to it. Let's be honest - I would have opted not to do it at all.

Today's lesson addresses that "all or nothing" mentality that I suspect most of us have.  Diets are rigid, boundaries are moveable.  and let's face it, no one ever does this dieting thing perfectly.  Boundaries are much friendlier than diets.  Guidelines are more forgiving than rules.  I know that I have a problem with rules.  Tell me I "can't" have something and I'll look for a reason why I should have it.  But if I deal with guidelines, well, those are much less threatening.  Yes, there need to be boundaries, there needs to be an eating plan, but I know myself well enough to know that "rigid" doesn't work for me.  The "Hundred Days" book advises us to think of this journey as a path.  Paths narrow and widen.  Some days we find it easy to stay within narrow boundaries and other days we need to widen the road.  The important thing is that we keep moving forward.  Yesterday I talked about how it makes no sense to stay down because you fall down.  This is the same analogy.  If I were to veer off the path, would it make sense to tell myself that I will keep going further off the road because I missed a step.  This is the kind of skewed thinking that keeps us from seeing how the pounds are piling up one at a time.  Yet we want them to come off two or three at a time.  "Boundaries should give you benefits, not punishment!"  Why do we think it's okay to punish ourselves for things we would forgive in others?  "Depending on your needs, you can simply adjust the edges of your plan to fit where you are in life. By doing this, you'll be far more successful than if you punish yourself every time you step off the road."


Today's Lesson


1. In your notebook, draw a line down the middle of the page, creating two columns.


2. Label one column "Narrow road" for your diet plan.  Label the other "Wider road" for your maintenance or alternative eating plan.


3. Under the titles, define your eating and exercise plans for each of the roads.  Then deicde on ways you can be flexible with them without losing sight of the healthy road you want to follow.

I need to think on this exercise for a bit.  I haven't actually formally started my eating plan.  For the moment I am concentrating on my commitment to get on the treadmill every morning.  I am trying to listen to my body and define hunger.  I am being forgiving with the food at the moment in because I know if I try to make changes all at once, I will be overwhelmed and give up.  For now I am congratulating myself on 4 days of consistant morning workouts. Considering my mindset for the last few months, that is huge.