Perfection vs. Precision

Some of you have asked questions regarding the "no sugar" challenge for this week. I think each person will have to decide what "no sugar" means to them. For me personally, I will be avoiding deserts, candy, cake, ice cream and the like, but sugar from more natural foods like fruit and milk will still be acceptable. Take for instance last night...I had a group dinner at my house where I ate a few candied pecans on my salad (without even thinking about it) but I did pass on the homemade peach cobber and ice cream. Even though technically I ate some sugar, I still count it as a successful evening over all.

There are times in life where you just have to do the best you can with what you have to work with. If I had all the money in the world, I would love to shop at Whole Foods and buy "organic" everything. Unfortunately our grocery budget doesn't allow this so I have to pick and choose what is important to me. And yes, my kids still love to eat fruit snacks and bright orange-colored macaroni and cheese! But they also like things like shredded carrots and apples dipped in peanut butter so I do my best to strike a balance in the things that they eat and try not to beat myself up about it.

I think we as women really give ourselves a hard time by constantly striving for a state of "perfection." We feel a need to be perfect mothers, perfect wives, perfect friends, perfect sisters, etc. while also trying to attain the look of perfection we see glaring down at us from lofty billboards and magazine covers. When we fail to meet these impossible objectives, we get down on ourselves and wonder why we can't do or be better. If you have ever had any of these feelings, you might like this Youtube video. I found it very interesting to watch and certainly put things in a better perspective for me...



Really makes you think, doesn't it? No wonder people become depressed when they strive to attain something that isn't even real!!

So instead of striving to attain perfection, focus more on aiming for precision. Do those things repeatedly that give you the results that you want to see. This doesn't mean that you won't make mistakes along the way, but as you learn from them, you will start to develop a more concrete pattern for success in every aspect of your life. You will start to see the value that you have to offer to this world regardless of the shape of your nose or the girth of your hips.

Talking Point: Do you ever get discouraged when looking at magazines or billboards and their images of what a person should look like? What is something you did today that makes a difference in the world? And don't overlook the small things either...like today I wiped down the treadmill after I was done using it so that the next person wouldn't have to run in my sweaty mess. I guess I made the world just a little bit better!

Weekly Challenge (Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2010)

Sorry for the absence. It's been a crazy and busy weekend, but I'm back and ready to write again!

As I was writing the dates for this week's challenge, I was shocked to have to write "September"! Is anyone else amazed at how fast this summer flew by? School is back in session around these parts and every once in a while, I feel a nice "fallish" breeze. I love fall though so I'm excited for the next few months!!

So how did you do with last week's challenge? Starting a food journal can be a bit time consuming and difficult to get into the habit of doing, but it certainly makes you more accountable for everything that you eat.

I have a confession to make though...the challenges for the last two weeks haven't been very difficult for me. I eat breakfast religiously and am already in the habit of keeping a food journal. I know some of you have gotten into new habits with these challenges though, and I think they are very healthy habits to start or maintain. However, this week, we'll be doing a challenge that will be HARD for me. I'm actually copying this idea from bodyrock.tv found here. The challenge will be to go a week without SUGAR!! I'm not talking about natural sugars found in things like milk or fruit, but sugary sweets like cakes, donuts, brownies, soda and my ultimate favorite...ice cream (I would banish flavored dairy this week too, like anything other than plain yogurt and lowfat milk.) I do pretty well avoiding sugar during the week but I almost always splurge a bit on the weekends and enjoy my guilty pleasure (i.e. ice cream) a bit (or sometimes a lot!!) But for this challenge, I am going to do my best to avoid all sugary treats and snacks for 7 full days. So who's with me on this one? Do you think you can avoid sugar all week?

Talking Point: What is your favorite sugary treat? Could you give it up for a week? I am all about moderation and I don't believe in "banishing" any foods from my diet, but sometimes it's good to give yourself a bit of a challenge for a short while. I have a serious sweet tooth and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE me some good ice cream but I do tend to overindulge a bit much. I have a hard time stopping at just one bite!!