Every time I "restart" my healthy-living routine I buy a brand new notebook. The medium 5-star college-ruled kind. I always pick a bright blue or green cover- it matches my bright and cheery outlook on all of my future successes. The crisp, white, clean sheets sparkle at me. They represent everything I want to be. They are pure. Nothing has touched them. They have no history, no errors, no evidence of failure. They are perfect, and each time I buy one I promise it that I will keep it perfect. That when I begin tracking what I eat and how often I exercise my new notebook will still be perfect because I will be perfect.
Wanna take a guess at how many half-used notebooks I have around my house? Without fail they all turn into scrap paper for jotting down random life necessities- shopping lists, to do lists, sketches for work... The diet goes out the window and so does the notebook.
I've been operating under the heading of "The past is the past so forget it and start from scratch" and I still believe that- sort of. I think the problem for me is that in giving myself a blank slate I am pardoning all of the choices I made that got me to this point, and while forgiveness is necessary, turning a blind eye means never learning from my mistakes.
So, true to form, I bought ANOTHER notebook yesterday. This time I will write down the good AND the bad. When I eat a bowl of Trix or put too much cheese on my potato (or dive spoon first into some Everything-But-The) I will not give up on my notebook. And, just like me, I hope my notebook will get healthier over time.
I started doing something like that when we first moved to AZ and I was trying to lose weight. It really stopped me from consuming all that stuff I wanted but didn't need to eat. I saw it on paper and thought "Wow, I've really eaten A LOT today." Helped to keep things in check. I hope you stick with your notebook. I know it will be really helpful!
ReplyDelete<3KittyKat
PS - i started using WordPress so I could actually start commenting again!