On the quest to get healthy and lose weight, one of the largest obstacles to success is the need to be perfect.

Sound familiar to you?

I mean, we live in a digital world where showing your absolute best side is the norm. I’m talking about flawless Instagram accounts, exquisite photo shoots, filters that only show our attractive sides, and a culture of only sharing what is deemed acceptable and ideal to our ‘followers.’

Even if you’re not on social media, the culture of perfection is all around us, it’s hard to avoid. Am I right?

Let me know what you think and reply to me with your ideas on what being perfect is.

You know what else though? If perfectionism exists as a concept in our minds, well that means our own minds also hold the solution to overcoming it.

That’s great news and holds the key to how we can heal ourselves from the endless impossible quest to be perfect.

So what is Perfectionism anyway?

Perfectionism is a mindset characterized by striving for excessive high standards and unrealistic expectations in all areas of life, but never is it more apparent than in diet and weightloss culture.

In my experience, perfectionism is generally a hindrance, and not a source of motivation. It involves critical self-talk, and procrastination - that other old enemy of weightloss and healthy habits.

It’s a surefire way to get off track and feel bad about yourself - two things that do nothing to lead you towards your weight loss goals!

Procrastination and Perfectionism

These two go hand in hand. Procrastination is all too often the result of a perfectionist mindset. It’s the concept that “Well, if I cannot do this perfectly, I won’t do it until it can be perfect.”

It’s one of the most detrimental traps that can hold you back from true success in your journey to lose weight and improve your health through diet and exercise.

So what happens when you have too much procrastination and perfection going on?

Years of yo-yo dieting, losing weight, putting it back on, not sticking to a routine, and doing numerous crash diets that always fail after a few days or weeks, etc.

How common it is to give up our health “plan” because we ended up having a few slices of pizza and ordered dessert, so we might as well just start again next week, or month, or after the holidays?

If this sounds like you, believe me, you’re not alone.

The solution? A radical attitude shift!

Next time you find yourself in that future-thinking mode, the one where you say, “oh well, I messed up so I’ll start again at the beginning of the month”

STOP

Grab your power back immediately in that moment and decide to make the shift there and then.

Make sure that the next thing you eat is healthy. And if you missed a few workouts, get back out there as soon as you can, or do the next best thing by going for a brisk walk or doing some jumping jacks.

We all only have the moment right in front of us.

There isn’t actually any “tomorrow” because when tomorrow comes, it’s today.

So when your quest to lose weight gets all confused and muddied with ideas of being perfect and waiting for right moment, remember this.

You only have the moment right in front of you, and there is no better moment than that one to get back on your path towards health and weight loss.

Remind yourself how strong you are and how far you have come.

Empower yourself to take charge and responsibility for your own life.

Perfection is a far-fetched, impossible notion, because honestly it does not exist. There is no magical perfect future day where you do everything right. There really isn’t.

All your power is NOW.

Make a new choice, eat something healthy, don’t order the fat-filled processed meal and instead choose something that you know is going to deeply nourish your body with the right vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

The next time you are faced with the trap of perfectionism? You will have practiced training and rewiring your brain to make good choices instead, and it will be so much easier to pivot back towards what serves your weight loss plan, even on those days where you had a few cookies and a slice of cake.

Take your power back!