Stepping it Up

Good afternoon!

Expectations have been on my mind today.  I keep thinking about how much I expect for my efforts in weight loss and in life.  I mean we all want to be treated perfectly.  We want something that fits into the parts of our lives that we love but that changes all the parts that we don't like.  When you're talking about a relationship how many of us know a girl who wants a perfect prince charming to sweep her off her feet and treat her like a princess?  How many of us ourselves want to lose weight by having a magical fix, a workout that only takes us 5 minutes a day?  But just pining away for perfect things only leads to sadness.

I try to view life from a place of bettering myself.  That isn't something I've always done and I don't like the person I was before I did it.  I used to be that person that expected everyone to be what I needed right then.  But now I feel like I have to stop and think, what do THEY need ME to be?  How dare I take from someone and not give back.  Do I want to be treated like a princess? Then I better be ready to make someone feel like a prince.  Do I want my weight to fall off? Then I'd better treat my body how it needs to be treated and not give in to that caramel mocha craving.

In my sleepy state this morning I tweeted "How do people expect perfection when they're not perfect? Lower your expectations to your level, or work on bettering yourself!"  What I really meant was...ever since I started bettering myself and being worthy of the things/people I want in my life, I feel great and I want other people to know that too.
Anyway why do I keep thinking about this? I think it's because I've been really relaxed about easing into working out and eating better.  I found myself thinking that I remember back when I was losing over a pound a week, over two pounds.  I was thinking about the effort I made then.  And I certainly didn't go out for Swedish pancakes with lingonberry butter on Sunday mornings.  I didn't rationalize eating an extra serving of rice here and there.  So it's time for me to either lower my expectations or step it up in my actions.

I choose stepping up my actions.  And I'm not going to hope I lose 20 pounds by May for my trip.  (Side note that it doesn't make sense anymore anyway, because my trip was pushed back to June).  I *am* going to lose 20 pounds by this trip, that's a little over a pound a week but I know I can do it because I'm going to put my mind to it.  And who knows maybe I'll lose more, or maybe I'll just work up how long I can jog without feeling like my lungs are exploding.  But it's time for me to step it up.

And write here every day. I get pumped up when I write my blog.  It needs to be more of a priority!