SLOPPY COPIES

The subject was perfection and its elusiveness when it comes to proper eating last Monday at the weight loss center.

I remember many diets in the past where if I had a "bad" meal...well that was it for the day..."No more dieting today, I've already blown it so I'm gonna just keep on eating badly for the rest of this day and start again tomorrow."

That was the mindset...if I can't eat "perfectly" at all times I'll quit today and start tomorrow ~ or the day after that ~ or next Monday ~ or the first of the month ~ or after my birthday ~ or after my spouse's birthday ~ or after Mickey Mouse's new movie comes out. 

Looking back on it now, I realise I was just setting myself up to fail.  The last person that was truly perfect, now sits at the right hand of the Father.

One of the ladies I attend classes with at the weight loss center is an elementary school teacher.  She said many of her students dislike writing because they have a hard time controlling the pencil, thinking of what to write and then striving to spell correctly and use proper punctuation all at the same time.  They get distressed that their papers don't look clean because of all the imperfect erasures and whatever else isn't "just so".

She came upon a great way for her kids to look at it.  She says, "Write what you want and get it all down on paper.  Don't worry about misspelled words or incorrect punctuation.  Just get everything down on paper that you want to put down." 

 She says that they call them "Sloppy Copies".

Once they have the foundation down on their sloppy copy, they then go back checking for mistakes, correcting them and when it is to their satisfaction, she instructs them to get out a clean sheet of paper and copy from the corrected sloppy copy.

This frees up the logjam for them.  If they had to do it perfectly from the very start, they would never learn how to write and they would hate every minute of it to boot.

So why is it, that I demand perfection from myself when it concerns weight management?  I've spent fifty years learning the wrong way to eat, and using food as a "coping mechanism" while I ate through several grocery stores of food not feeling my emotions.

Or if I did feel a rudimentary emotion, I would eat until I was so strung out on carbs I didn't care any more.  I suppose I ate more when I felt negative feelings or was depressed, but I could easily put on the feed bag during happy times as well.

Basically I had myself covered in jelly donuts 
and pizza either way.

So I've had a lot of time to get eating food "wrong".

I get upset when I don't follow my eating plan as closely as I should...in my mind I picture a car driving off the cliff, when in reality that day is a "Sloppy Copy" of what my weight management eating is aiming for.

When I eat more than I planned, I don't rent a room at the bakery for the rest of the day...though it is tempting sometimes.  

Overeaters Anonymous calls it "Seeking progress not perfection."

Should I never seek to eat perfectly?

Well of course I should!

Will I write out my food plan for the day?

Will I make nutritionally sound choices?

Will I assume some form of regular exercise?

Will I allow myself to be held accountable for those decisions by another human being?

When I waver will I withdraw and eat or will I make a phone call, divert my attention somehow and live life on life's terms?

One bite at a time, one meal at a time, one day at a time.

Is is sometimes overwhelming and will it look pretty sloppy??

Sure! 

But right now I'll accept any port in this storm.