Thursday, March 02, 2006

The Shocking Truth About Perfectionism and Weight Loss

Recently, I've noticed a rash of posts on the Weight Watchers website message boards from new Weight Watchers. These dear folks are mystified as to why the scale isn't giving them the results they expect, even when they have followed the program carefully. Longtime Weight Watchers respond with sage words about how the body responds in its own time, myriad factors can affect the results at the scale, and the importance of sticking with the program despite the scale's vagaries.

Here's something I'd love every discouraged Weight Watcher to consider: How much could the scale have gone UP this week if you were not practicing all your new skills? 1/2 pound? 1 pound? More? I don't know about you, but any week that I maintain or I'm down a fraction, is a week I didn't go back to unhealthy old behaviors. It's a week that I didn't gain. It's a week that I didn't constantly use food to try to fix problems. It's a week that I didn't beat myself up from start to finish. It's a week that I didn't feel hopeless and miserable about my behavior and my body. If you've had a maintenance or minimal loss week, what stops you from considering that a huge success?

If it's perfectionism, recognize that perfectionism doesn't serve you. Perfectionism, the ceaseless pursuit of living your life so spotlessly that none could find fault, causes you to strive endlessly to meet an impossible standard. Perfectionism keeps your focus on flaws, real or imagined, significant or irrelevant, and deflates your vitality and motivation. It prevents you from recognizing success (how can you replicate it if you don't even notice it?), it distorts your rational thinking about the weight loss process, and it causes you to feel hopeless and helpless. Perfectionism is the enemy of courage, innovation, creativity and pleasure. When you give up perfectionism, you become free to persevere with your weight loss journey and to try new ideas without the intense fear of failure. Replacing perfectionistic thoughts (try using the Weight Watchers Reframing, Switching, or Empowering Beliefs Tools for Living) is a step toward health and joy.

The shocking truth: There will be weeks when you won't lose, even if you do everything "right." What you do after those weigh-ins will be critical. Because if you give up, you can be sure that you won't lose. If you stick with the plan, weight loss will happen. Maybe not on your timeline, maybe not every single week, but it will happen. Perfection is not required. Persistence is. Success is absolutely guaranteed as long as you don't give up.

2 Comments:

Blogger nicky said...

hi
i've just been reading your blog and was inspired to do something i've never done before, which is contact a complete stranger and tell them that i think they are amazing. which is what i am doing to you now.

oh, and if you have a moment, you should check out this blog:
http://celbartolo.free.fr/index.php?2005/12/02/94-un-peu-de-douceur

it's in french, but the pictures are polyglottal, and they feature a hippo and a giant tortoise who became best friends!

thanks again for your blog,

nicky.

8:59 PM  
Blogger The Queen of Everything said...

Inspiring words! I'll be saving your addy to my favorites!

3:57 AM  

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