Bring your A-game!

What! How could it possibly be Monday already?!?!?!?  I swear sometimes I just don't know where my weekends go. Of course, it could be that we've been traveling so much lately. I haven't had a weekend at home in like a month!

Saturday we got up, ate breakfast packed a bag and headed to Norman for the OU game. I have to say that I was less than impressed with the way my Sooners played on Saturday against Missouri. I really expected more after their amazing performance at Florida State. And yesterday when the rankings came out and we dropped to #2, I think we saw that most everyone agreed.  Maybe that will be a slap in the face and they'll wake up and realize that just winning isn't good enough. You have to play your best game every time if you want to be #1.

This got me thinking about my weight loss game.  Just eating right and exercising most of the time isn't good enough to get the results I want. I know this. But, over the last few months I've gotten lax about my focus on the scale. It's easy to lull myself into getting comfortable with how far I've come and forget where I'm trying to go. Just doing well is not enough. Unless I'm getting the results on the scale I want, I'm not winning. I'm playing a good game, but I want to see that scale move and it takes more than I've been giving lately. I've said this before and I am frustrated and embarrassed  to be writing it again. NO I haven't had a major slip. I haven't gained. But, I haven't seen the weight loss I did before.

I am feeling a bit frustrated with myself since I didn't get to work out all last week being sick with strep. I'm ready to get back in the game this week and I have my gym bag packed for a trip to the gym today at lunch.  I also got lax about tracking on vacation and then last week being sick I didn't track everyday. That just will not do. There's no excuses this week. None. I am resurrecting my inner drill sergeant and getting back to being hard on myself. There is nothing wrong with expecting the best from yourself. There is nothing wrong with being hard on yourself.

There's a lot of talk around here about mistakes and how to respond to them. There are a lot of people who were here when I started this blog and are no where to be found now. Truth is, I got to be this weight by not being hard enough on myself.   There are a lot of posts lately about trying to find motivation and wishing about getting back on track. Most of these posts are followed by comments which at first glance seem to be encouraging. Things like "you've come so far"  or "you're doing so well" or "at least you didn't eat the WHOLE pizza".  (these are not direct quotes from anyone's blog).

I understand wanting to be supportive and helpful. I do the same thing, but I also know I have a tendency to minimize my mistakes and short comings. We all do. For a long time I fooled myself into thinking that I looked good and I was healthy. Then I really took a look at where I was and realized I had to stop that. Sometimes I think we should do the same with others around here. There's a line between being supportive and being codependent and  a facilitator. Do we tell others "it's OK" when they slip because we don't want to admit our own mistakes?

Should we feel like a failure when we make mistakes? No. Should we let mistakes overwhelm us and lead us to quit? Of course not. BUT, don't fool yourself. That little taste, that one cookie, that "just for today", that "It's my Birthday and I deserve it" mentality is what got us here.  Being hard on yourself is a good thing. Being disciplined and expecting the best from yourself is a good thing.  There's a difference between being driven and focused and being overly critical of yourself.

Today stop and think about where you are with your weight loss game. Are you giving it your all? Are you playing your best game? Do you have more you can give? Where do you want to be? What are your goals?  Are you doing everything you can to get there every day?

Nobody's perfect, but there is nothing wrong with trying. I always tell my kids that if they do their very best, it's OK not to get an A. If they tried their HARDEST, and can't get an A, I'm OK with it. I had to ask myself if I was doing my best and I would have to say, not EVERY day. I can do better.   What about you?