Keeping it simple and sane

I'm very good at complicating things and making them into bigger issues than they really need to be. This applies to most facets of my life, but especially when it comes to food.

If you ever saw the madness that is my cookbook collection you would think that I cook many different things. I aspire to do so, but I think having so many options has resulted in a paralysis of sorts. Instead, I flip through cookbook after cookbook, drooling at recipes but rarely trying one. Someday, I think to myself, when I have all the ingredients on hand and all the equipment. And a bigger kitchen. And more time.

Trying to be healthier doesn't escape either. I frantically plan out meal plans that would make a nutritionist proud. I collect exercise dvds so that I always have options if I can't go to the gym. But when push comes to shove, I don't stick to any of it. I might stick to my rigid eating routine for a couple days but then something will always trip me up and it all comes crumbling down. As for the exercising, I'm lucky if I get 2 days in a week. Those dvds sit collecting dust.

This need to have it all right all at once is my downfall. I make it all so perfect and complex in the beginning that I think there really is no where to go but failure. It's not realistic to expect so much at once. I'm beginning to realize that it's okay if I don't plan and eat flawlessly healthy meals every day. Just making an effort and doing better than eating junk food and fast food is a step towards progress in itself. So maybe I rely more on healthy convenience food like veggie burgers, frozen meals, etc. in the beginning. So what? If it helps me get in a good groove, then that's great. Once I've built a foundation, then I can add on and improve on it. The same thing with exercising. I don't have to get 5 days of cardio and 3 days of weights right off the bat. Just walking outside in the beautiful weather a few times a week is better than me sitting on my ass watching tv.

So what I've been trying to do the past few days is to keep it simple. Instead of having 5 billion options for breakfast and lunch, I've been sticking to 1 or 2 options. I've been trying to be active in some way at least 2-3 times during the week. And when I faced temptation a couple times and gave in, I wasn't as hard on myself like I usually am because I hadn't set up ridiculous expectations for myself. I can't fail if I don't set myself up for failure. The less insane I make things, the easier it is to accomplish them. What a revelation, right? :)