Always Do Your Best

…but acknowledge that your best changes based on your situation. When you realize that when you are sick, your best will not look like it does when you are healthy. Or tired versus well-rested. Or frustrated versus being in a good space emotionally. It acknowledges what you can do, based on current circumstances, is a fluid, ever-changing thing. You’re traveling, you haven’t eaten all day, and now you find yourself in an airport food court where the choices are…well let’s just say that they are less than ideal. McDonald’s is the BEST option? Seriously?!? Well, there’s enough grease on the pizza to keep the engines of an entire FLEET of airplanes running…nope. Chinese food from a place you don’t know is ALWAYS scary, especially in an airport...so that’s out. (I’ve made that choice before and regretted it for the next 6 hours and I have a cast iron stomach with a mutant immune system!!!) The $9 “freshly made” sorry, tiny little excuse for a sandwich looks a few days past due…thanks, I’ll pass. So that leaves…Ronald McDonald and company. Yay. Most days I wouldn’t slap a hog in the face with this crap, much less eat it. (I first heard that expression from my wife and laughed so hard I almost cried. It cracks me up! I guess it’s the visual. Thanks, honey!) Well, if this is the best I can do, then so be it. Grilled chicken sandwich, no fries, and no Coke. And no smile, but we’ll talk about the service another time. This was me this past week. I got to go home to visit the family and spent practically 2 whole days traveling. I eat every 2.5 hours…uh, not THAT day. I only eat healthy food while maintaining a proper balance of protein: carbs: fat…sorry that one’s out the window, too. I drink plenty of water to stay well hydrated…what?!? I can’t bring more than 3 ozs on board? That’ll last me 13 minutes, then what?!?!? Are you starting to see my point? I have a pretty long list of things I do that are healthy and very important to me. And pretty much NONE of them can be accomplished with the new rules and regulations of air travel. Unless you want to pay through the nose and sacrifice your carry on item for a cooler, which can’t have any liquids over a swallow and a half anyway! So, my choices are get really upset and frustrated by an industry that used to be known for “flying the friendly skies” (I remember the good ol’ days when they GAVE you a meal, the stewardesses were smiling, and the passengers were happy because flying sure beat taking the bus. But I digress…), or I can realize that the best I can do is the best I can do and move forward without guilt, or beating myself up over my choices, or lack thereof. I will admit this is a pretty extreme case, but it shows the power of this mindset. I eat before I leave, make the best choices available to me, and remain content that I have done my best. That’s a pretty big departure for someone who plans out most of his food choices in advance and preps them ahead of time. In this case health is not a physical aspect, it’s a mental and emotional one. I’ve had clients beat themselves up over far less and I know some of you can hold yourselves to pretty ridiculous standards from time to time. Hopefully, as you adopt this mindset and begin applying it you’ll start to be less hard on yourself and be more forgiving. I read something once that suggested that if we were as hard on our friends as we are on ourselves then we would be all alone. Interesting. Try giving some of the grace you would use on your friends to yourself and see what happens. I’m offering this up to try and balance out the guilt and destructive feelings of failure for not being “perfect.” But don’t go too far in the other direction either. Sitting on the couch, watching soap operas, eating bon bons, and calling it your best is delusional and just a unhealthy as rampaging perfectionism. Being healthy is about balance, and that is the best goal you can have.

Priscilda had asked me what are some examples of healthy habits. Some healthy habits that I recommend are: eating 5-6 times a day, eating in a predetermined ratio of protein: carbs: fat, drinking plenty of water, zigzagging your calories consumed, using supplements, getting your protein from low fat sources, consuming more good fat than bad fat, utilizing the glycemic index to select your carbs, never eating carbs by themselves, eating based on your blood type, eating more alkalizing foods and less acidifying ones, using resistance training to build muscle, doing cardio to improve your heart and lung conditioning, getting plenty of sleep at night (at least 8 hours), stop eating 2 hours before you go to bed, eat based on the clock, not when you are hungry, finding healthy ways to manage stress in your life, taking time to be grateful for all of the blessings in your life, and laughing frequently. If you don’t do any of these, start small and incorporate a few (1 or 2) of these ideas into your life. If you already do a few, great, add some more. Some times it will be easier than others to do the things on the list. And this is by no means a complete list. Like all new habits, you must consistently do these things for at least 21 days until they become established. Then you can add more. The more of these habits that you adopt, the healthier you will be and the faster you will see results. The benefit of living a healthy lifestyle is that losing fat and improving your metabolism are by products. Plus you feel really good. I hope you found this helpful. Have a great week, everyone!