For years I’ve described myself as an “all or nothing” type person, but I’ve only recently realized that I’ve misunderstood the common meaning of the phrase. The general definition seems to be someone who is very black/white in reasoning or is success/fail as far as effort – kind of a type A perfectionist.
That’s not me.
When I described myself as “all or nothing”, I was referring to the fact that I find it hard to moderate. I’m either eating healthy and exercising every day or I’m not. I know that just going for a 30 minute walk is good for me, but if I don’t have time to do 4 miles and isometric exercises after, then I don’t do anything.
Another example – say I’m entertaining – I want to do all the cooking, and set a nice table, and have great appetizers, but if I can’t, I just order pizza. I don’t want to say that I can’t do anything half way, because that makes it sound so, so, well absurd. I do things half way all the time. I currently have laundry that I washed last week, sill in the basket. I frequently pull everything out of a closet to clean it, then have to do something else, so pile of stuff sits for days. Clearly I can do things half way.
When I’m trying to eat correctly and within my calorie limits, it’s not enough to focus on fruits and vegetables, I try to cut out fat and reduce carbs and I have to track it all on myFitnessPal. If I can’t do all that, then I don’t do any of it. Why does my mind work this way?
This blog is another example – I wanted to be able to do it right, have at least 3 posts a week, have content that was meaningful, have great photos and images, and be able to do lots of research. When I couldn’t do all of that anymore, I didn’t post anything.
I’m envious of the friends I have who can fit in working out around all the other parts of their lives – a run at 2 PM after a work meeting, the next day the gym after getting the kids on the bus, and then the next day hitting a yoga class with a friend after dinner. What a great example of truly embracing fitness — and moderation — in your life.
So, my goal is to reset this thinking that is has to be either do everything or do nothing. In my crazy, busy life, I need to have the flexibility to jump in and do what I can when I can – it doesn’t have to be my definition of ALL or NOTHING.
