Have it without the cheese
All4Me2014xx
Posts: 155 Member
Ever feel like you are the do-all, must-be-all to all things in your life?
We get so inundated at times with everything we have going on in our lives. Work, home, kids, weight loss, etc. Things start pulling us in so many directions we lose focus on what needs to be done. A friend told me a short story just now because I was talking to her about my inability to focus on what I know should be done, that I was sabotaging myself in everything. I felt like nothing was getting done the way, or in the time, it should be done.
I've set myself a goal for exercise of getting on my treadmill each night. Just walking for now because I've hurt my shoulder and need to have it checked out before I use it for strength training in case that ends up hurting it more.
Anyway, I told myself, I don't have anything that takes my attention away from walking, and can easily get on there and walk for an hour and a half each night. Easy pace, 3 mph. Simple, right? And yet, after 3 days of walking, it isn't the boredom of walking that causes me me to not walk, it's the thought that I'll have to be on there for 90 minutes. I walk and watch tv or listen to music. Once I get started, I can finish it. I look at my treadmill in my living room and just sigh. Not really feeling like walking tonight. And that's the start of it. The next night, it's the same thing. Only now I feel guilty because I took a night off the previous day and that guilt puts another pressure on me. And I don't even consider the fact that I don't have to walk for 90 minutes, I feel that pressure saying "You took last night off, only 90 minutes will be repayment for that." And I don't move. And I couldn't find my way out of that cycle. More guilt, more pressure. No more moving.
The story my friend told me was this:
A mother got home from work after picking her 6 year old up from day care and the house was a mess, laundry needed to be done, clothes need to be set out for the next day, and she was trying to get a sandwich made for her daughter for dinner and she realized that she didn't have any cheese. A simple slice of cheese caused such havoc for her that she couldn't move forward and she started telling her daughter, "There's no cheese, we don't have any cheese. You can't have this sandwich because there's no cheese."
The daughter looked up at her mom and said, "Well, I guess I'll just have it without the cheese."
Simple, right? But when you get too focused on everything going through your brain, sometimes the simplest answer evades you.
Why does it have to be 90 minutes? Why isn't just walking enough? Some days I'll feel like walking for 90 minutes, other days not. As long as I move, that's what counts. Sabotaging myself by setting such strict goals is only setting me up for failure. I have to learn to accept that sometimes, I need to be flexible. So my goal doesn't have a time limit from now on. My goal is to move.
Just. Move.
Have it without the cheese.
We get so inundated at times with everything we have going on in our lives. Work, home, kids, weight loss, etc. Things start pulling us in so many directions we lose focus on what needs to be done. A friend told me a short story just now because I was talking to her about my inability to focus on what I know should be done, that I was sabotaging myself in everything. I felt like nothing was getting done the way, or in the time, it should be done.
I've set myself a goal for exercise of getting on my treadmill each night. Just walking for now because I've hurt my shoulder and need to have it checked out before I use it for strength training in case that ends up hurting it more.
Anyway, I told myself, I don't have anything that takes my attention away from walking, and can easily get on there and walk for an hour and a half each night. Easy pace, 3 mph. Simple, right? And yet, after 3 days of walking, it isn't the boredom of walking that causes me me to not walk, it's the thought that I'll have to be on there for 90 minutes. I walk and watch tv or listen to music. Once I get started, I can finish it. I look at my treadmill in my living room and just sigh. Not really feeling like walking tonight. And that's the start of it. The next night, it's the same thing. Only now I feel guilty because I took a night off the previous day and that guilt puts another pressure on me. And I don't even consider the fact that I don't have to walk for 90 minutes, I feel that pressure saying "You took last night off, only 90 minutes will be repayment for that." And I don't move. And I couldn't find my way out of that cycle. More guilt, more pressure. No more moving.
The story my friend told me was this:
A mother got home from work after picking her 6 year old up from day care and the house was a mess, laundry needed to be done, clothes need to be set out for the next day, and she was trying to get a sandwich made for her daughter for dinner and she realized that she didn't have any cheese. A simple slice of cheese caused such havoc for her that she couldn't move forward and she started telling her daughter, "There's no cheese, we don't have any cheese. You can't have this sandwich because there's no cheese."
The daughter looked up at her mom and said, "Well, I guess I'll just have it without the cheese."
Simple, right? But when you get too focused on everything going through your brain, sometimes the simplest answer evades you.
Why does it have to be 90 minutes? Why isn't just walking enough? Some days I'll feel like walking for 90 minutes, other days not. As long as I move, that's what counts. Sabotaging myself by setting such strict goals is only setting me up for failure. I have to learn to accept that sometimes, I need to be flexible. So my goal doesn't have a time limit from now on. My goal is to move.
Just. Move.
Have it without the cheese.
0
Replies
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Cheeseburgers are better than hamburgers.0
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What if I have cheese without the thing, is that good?0
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That was really stressful to read.
but yeah, just walk on the treadmill for as long as you can.0 -
Cheeseburgers are better than hamburgers.
No cheese? Don't want it.
:laugh: But seriously, you are right. Just do it. Get up and do it. No excuses. Kids lost the DVD remote so I can't do my workout? Figure out how to make that *kitten* work! Or stick the DVD in the computer and clear some space. I'll be doing exactly that in about 5 min.0 -
tl;dr? -> Just move. A little is more than nothing.
I want a cheeseburger now... with cheese.0 -
I totally get this mentality. It's the all-or-nothing trap! Good for you for recognizing that you don't have to do EVERYTHING to make a difference. A little bit of something is better than nothing 0
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I needed this. Thank you for posting.0
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....But but but...
I like cheddar....
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....But but but...
I like cheddar....
oh, yeah. the sharper, the better.0
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