If you go on a diet and you eat salad for four straight months, it can be very difficult to maintain.
You’re proud of yourself for how well you’re doing and you can see the results, but a part of you is deeply unsatisfied. Honestly, you have to let yourself have a bit of chocolate or pizza every so often, otherwise, it’s pretty unsustainable.
Let’s say you’ve been working really hard and you just want to hang out with your friends again, or you feel like you’ve made progress towards a given goal but you feel like you’ve relapsed or fallen behind. Sometimes you make it to the final interview and then poof, the opportunity vanishes. Maybe it’s that you recently broke up and you feel like you’ve progressed but then you see the he-who-shall-not-be-named again. Or you’ve been working on yourself but you feel like you haven’t gotten anywhere. Or sometimes it’s as simple as a literal diet. You need to give yourself a break. In fact, everybody could stand to give her or himself a break.
It’s perfectly understandable to just turn into a pile of smushiness. We hold ourselves to such high standards, which is a great thing to be able to do, but I strongly believe that you occasionally have to fall backward or take a seat before standing up and making moves again. Just give yourself a damn break!
That’s also why I think it’s so important to distinguish between what you really want and what you really need. It’s been a very long time since I’ve done what I needed in my life because I’ve lived for so long doing what I want. I don’t know if that’s due to a lack of self-discipline or just a matter of habit, but I think there’s something to be said for doing what’s needed and what’s best for myself objectively. I’m doing that for the first time in a long time, but I’ve realized that I’ve thrown myself into this strict living regimen, and I could certainly stand to just breathe for a second.
So same to you reading this – I think doing what you need is, well, necessary, but you have to occasionally do what you want to be able to sustain whatever you’re doing or working towards. My point is, chill. You’re not a psycho (I am, but you don’t have to be) and people can’t just be perfect robots who don’t make mistakes or have human emotions that get the best of them.
Now give yourself a real break and go check out my new blog and Instagram for some good old food pics and adventures <3 kleeats.com / @kleeats
And check out this cheese because I guarantee you both need AND want this.