A major part of life is dealing with expectations. Your expectations for yourself, your co-workers expectations of you, your spouses/significant others expectations for you and your expectations for others. Most people have higher expectations for themselves than for others. It makes perfect sense. You need to lead by example. But what happens when you fail to meet your own expectations?
During December 2011 I decided to give myself a little break on working out and eating cleanly every day. I still tried to eat as clean as possible, but with all of the holiday parties going on, I gave myself the chance to not worry about calories or carbs and just enjoy food. When I gave myself this little break, I also made goals that I expected I would start following come January 1st. I was amped up and ready to go. And then January came and went and nothing happened. I had absolutely no motivation to do ANYTHING that I had expected I would be doing. I felt disengaged from myself and from life. I was exhausted all of the time. February came and went as well and still nothing.
It was at this point that anxiety set in. All I could think about were the goals I had set for myself and how I was doing NOTHING to accomplish some of them. While I was working diligently to learn to love my exterior as much as I love my interior, I was not working out, eating as healthy as I should or doing yoga. When I should have been working on the two books I am writing, I was sleeping hoping I could finally get enough sleep to knock the exhaustion I felt down a notch.
I finally went to the doctor and found out that my vitamin D level was very low. I was given a prescription for a higher dosage of vitamin D. It is now September and I am still on the prescription dosage because somehow my levels have managed to drop lower than they previously were. So what do you do when you've gained 10 pounds instead of losing 40? When in the past two months you've written one page for your first book and haven't started the second book?
You readjust your expectations. No I didn't lose the 40 pounds like I planned (and instead gained 10), but I have also learned to love my exterior as much as I love my interior. I never thought that was possible unless I finished losing weight. I still expect to finish losing weight, I just realize that it probably won't be by the end of this year. Like I told someone this morning, I would rather have a life filled with wonderful memories than a life filled with counting calories and exercise routines.
Life happens. You can only control so much. And if you are spending too much time on something that is not bringing you joy and happy memories, readjust your expectations and move on.
Until Next Time,
During December 2011 I decided to give myself a little break on working out and eating cleanly every day. I still tried to eat as clean as possible, but with all of the holiday parties going on, I gave myself the chance to not worry about calories or carbs and just enjoy food. When I gave myself this little break, I also made goals that I expected I would start following come January 1st. I was amped up and ready to go. And then January came and went and nothing happened. I had absolutely no motivation to do ANYTHING that I had expected I would be doing. I felt disengaged from myself and from life. I was exhausted all of the time. February came and went as well and still nothing.
It was at this point that anxiety set in. All I could think about were the goals I had set for myself and how I was doing NOTHING to accomplish some of them. While I was working diligently to learn to love my exterior as much as I love my interior, I was not working out, eating as healthy as I should or doing yoga. When I should have been working on the two books I am writing, I was sleeping hoping I could finally get enough sleep to knock the exhaustion I felt down a notch.
I finally went to the doctor and found out that my vitamin D level was very low. I was given a prescription for a higher dosage of vitamin D. It is now September and I am still on the prescription dosage because somehow my levels have managed to drop lower than they previously were. So what do you do when you've gained 10 pounds instead of losing 40? When in the past two months you've written one page for your first book and haven't started the second book?
You readjust your expectations. No I didn't lose the 40 pounds like I planned (and instead gained 10), but I have also learned to love my exterior as much as I love my interior. I never thought that was possible unless I finished losing weight. I still expect to finish losing weight, I just realize that it probably won't be by the end of this year. Like I told someone this morning, I would rather have a life filled with wonderful memories than a life filled with counting calories and exercise routines.
Life happens. You can only control so much. And if you are spending too much time on something that is not bringing you joy and happy memories, readjust your expectations and move on.
Until Next Time,
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