I want to share something with you that happened on my birthday, a few years ago.

I received some flowers from one of my gorgeous clients.

I received a lots of flowers actually and some beautiful plants

but this story is specifically about the flowers she gave me.

They were gorgeous.

They had red and white roses in them and some lilies.

They lasted well but the red roses died before any of the others.

The others were still gorgeous.

Still scented, radiant, in full bloom and just lovely.

But the red roses were dried up - dead as a dodo.

So I chucked the whole lot out.

The dead red roses, the fragrant lilies, the blooming white roses

and all of the ones whose names I don't know.

The whole lot, in the bin - gone.

 

Well actually I didn't.

I carefully took out the dead red roses,

chucked out the water to replace with fresh

and the remaining flowers carried on giving me lots of enjoyment for many more days.

 

Now did anyone think I was totally bonkers for chucking out a whole vase of beautiful flowers

just because one or two had died?

Well I hope so, because that is totally bonkers behaviour!

Yet, as women (and this certainly seems to be a behaviour women favour)

we seem to do this…a LOT!

 

We start a new health regime:

we start working out regularly;

we start to nourish our bodies with some gorgeous food;

we hydrate ourselves properly,

we prioritise our sleep for a change.

And then we have a bar of chocolate and BAM!!!

It ALL goes tits up!

The diet's RUINED so why bother?  May as well eat crap now.

Forget about the water; if my nutrition's gone to pot, what's the point in being hydrated?

And if I don't eat properly, well then what the hell is the point in exercising?

I may as well stop that too.

I’ll start again on Monday but in the meantime, I’ll eat everything I can lay my hands on!

All because of one measly little bar of chocolate, bag or crisps, glass of wine

or whatever it happens to be for you.

 

Imagine this.

Say you're driving home from somewhere tonight - in your car

and part way along your journey you get a flat tyre.

I bet you'd immediately jump out of the car with the sharpest implement you can find

and slash the other 3 tyres wouldn't you?

Of course you would eh?

 

Well I bloody hope you wouldn't!

Yet this is exactly what we do when we lose perfection in a new regime.

One tiny blip happens and we throw the towel in, undoing ALL of the great work we’ve done.

 

 

If this has been your approach in the past, it HAS to change.

I come from a history of 'all-or-nothing'.

Bulimia is a very 'all-or-nothing' condition and I suffered from it for years.

It's not healthy and jumping on and off diets isn't either.

Your approach to looking after your body, your health, your LIFE cannot be 'all-or-nothing'.

I'm hoping by now you know that I'm not perfect with respect to my diet.

I am FAR from perfect in many ways - in my diet, my exercise, my hydration...

and as for my IT skills, well let's just not go there ;-)

but what I am is CONSISTENT.

CONSISTENTLY pretty good.

And believe it or not, pretty good is enough.

You may not reach your goal in a super-quick time

but when you reach it, you’ll KEEP it.

Now if you are adamant that you want results quickly,

you need to be aware that the more challenging the goal,

(the bigger the weight loss and the shorter the time frame)

the closer to 'perfect' you'll need to be.

And with that, the temptation to relapse becomes stronger.

But it NEVER has to be totally perfect - NEVER!

Pretty good will certainly suffice (80:20 being the general guide)

and once your goal is reached, you can adjust your consistency accordingly.

 

So PLEASE, whatever you do, DO NOT throw out those vases of flowers or slash those tyres.

If blips happen and they WILL happen, MOVE ON.

ENJOY the blip for what it is, learn from it,

then move on.

Back to your nourishing food.

Back to your hydration.

Back to your regular exercise.

Back to investing in YOU.

YOUR body, YOUR health, YOUR energy, YOUR life.  YOU.

Remind yourself exactly WHY you are doing what you are doing and keep on truckin' ;-)

No tyre-slashing or vase-throwing allowed ;-)