When my daughter was 15 months old daughter, she reminded me of an important lesson about health goals when we were on an airplane to Florida.
On the plane, while the cute little munchkin was sleeping on my lap, I decided to sneak out a set of headphones to plug into the TV screen on the back of the seat in front of me. It was mom-time, and I was going to take advantage of some relaxing free time on the plane!
Of course, the second I did that, Ariana opened her sleepy little eyes and was alerted right away when she saw my headphones plugged into a glowing blue TV jack.
NEW TOY!
Immediately, she yanked the headphones right out of the jack and began fussing with that malleable set of white headphone wires until they were bundled and tangled into a big old ball of a knot.
Ugh.
I watched her as she would pull one leg of the wires away, stretching the knot wide, making it appear to loosen a bit. Excitedly, she’d then start pulling on the other leg of the wire, only to watch the knot begin to re-tighten again.
After a few minutes of this back and forth pattern she became quite frustrated and ended up throwing the entire wad of knotted headphones onto the floor.
In that moment, I looked at those knotted headphones as a symbol of our health & wellness goals.
Sometimes, we can excitedly grab at the first thing that catches our attention in order to get “back on track.”
Oh! Now THIS looks exciting! I think THIS is going to be fun and will put me on the right track of health. (Ie: 2 week liquid diet challenge, liver shrink diet, etc.)
We yank the headphone wires right out of the TV jack with the best of intentions. I’ve got this! This time will be different, I know it.
Then we start playing around with it and trying it on for size.
But sometimes, something that initially seemed so simple and straightforward at first can quickly feel complicated and confusing.
- What are all of the rules of my new diet?
- How long do I have to stay on this diet for?
- How do I do this for life?
- Am I doing this right?
- Am I doing wrong?
Things start to look and feel a little messy all of a sudden- or at least not as straight forward as you were hoping.
To gain clarity, you may turn to Google or Facebook Groups to help “loosen our knot” that has now started forming.
You see people on the liquid / liver-shrink / “X” diet and watch as they share their success stories. You begin feeling a glimmer of hope and re-direction.
However, with time, trial & error, and your own personal experience, you may begin to realize that the results you are seeing are fleeting, unsustainable, and just… not fun.
At this point, you may begin feeling even more confused or frustrated. You may even begin having feelings of defeat and failure and want to throw your heath goals to the floor like a wadded pair of headphones.
If this is where you’re feeling, you are not alone. But you also don’t need to struggle in solitude!
Having support and accountability on your side when it comes to hitting your health goals is so important.
If you’re feeling “stuck” or are in desperate need of getting “back on track,” let me help you with a quick win:
Start with the basics:
- Aim to drink 64+ oz of water a day every day this week.
- Remember- avoid drinking from straws and stop drinking 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after a meal
- And for an extra challenge- remember to take your bariatric multivitamins every day this week too!
