Thin Thin Pencil Thin Blog Post

What always comes around over and over when you are changing your life is the stumbles along the way. It becomes clear that we get in our own way more than anything else does, but that's OK. It's not the falling down that matters - it's the getting back up.

Look at your life like a pencil. The average pencil is 7 inches long but the eraser is only one half an inch long. As long as we can fight our way through the erasures and keep the ratio to 14 good moves to one bad one we win.

That lets you screw up about every two weeks. You can plan for a "mistake." You could also call it a treat if that makes you feel better. Not enough? OK, have a "free day" every week where you can do something that is not part of the daily plan.

If you get to that day next week and don't feel like cheating or treating yourself then don't. Bank that bad boy or forget it or whatever, but the point is that the more you stay with changes the more normal they become.

I wish It were possible to do a "Being John Malkovich" thing where people could jump in and feel what it's like to eat really clean and get regular exercise. I would have to get a lot more creative with the blog to avoid people saying "No duh."

The borrow the pallet idea would be cool as well. People always say "But bacon tastes so good" and other such statements. If they could avoid the big fats, salts and sweets for 2 weeks they wouldn't miss them and certainly wouldn't crave them. It is like an intervention, but worth the effort. You will find if you avoid those types of stuff that you can no longer even eat them without feeling ill.

Think about the box of doughnuts at work holding no interest for you at all - no longer a craving, but a distant memory of a different life. Think about the average plate of bacon, eggs and hash brown with toast at 800 - 1400 calories with 1-3 days of fat and sodium not being comfort food, but instead finding comfort in your great energy and enthusiasm.

But don't forget that we are human and we will make mistakes from time to time. The idea is to use up the pencil before the eraser is gone. Get up when you fall down and keep looking ahead.

More soon....