I’m working to embrace all of me.

This includes the part of me that reacts with anger, the part of me that stress eats, and the part that judges me for those things.

It’s not always easy.

At the root of this is the belief that if I’m not perfect, I will be unlovable.

My core human needs of love and security are at risk.

Is it any wonder that I’m recovering from perfectionitis?

Perfectionitis is the need to do everything perfectly.

Not only has perfectionitis been a significant contributor to my past struggles with my weight, but I see the majority of the women I work with suffering from it, as well.

Here is one of major symptoms.

It often shows up as the need to do a diet and exercise program perfectly, or you might as well give up.

Not only is that unrealistic, it’s exhausting. And it means that one mistake can sabotage months of progress.

The truth is, we are all perfect in our imperfection.

Sounds like a contradiction doesn’t it?

This is the dichotomy of life. There can be 2 truths that exist at the same time.

Here are some examples:

• I’m totally and completely imperfect AND I’m awesome.
• My body is imperfect AND I’m beautiful.
• My eating is imperfect AND I’m healthy and slim.
• I’m self-critical AND I love and appreciate myself.
• I’ve created a life that I love AND there’s room to make it even better.

Can both of these be true at the same time?

Yes! By not making either aspect of you “right” or “wrong.”

When you can fully embrace both aspects of you as perfect, fully feel the pain AND joy of being alive, and accept your unique perception and experience of life—that is where life gets vibrant, juicy, and rich.

To know yourself as loving you must also know yourself as unloving. You then choose who you want to be moving forward.

Once again, I remind myself of what I know.

There is no “one right way” to do anything. By being more tolerant and supportive of yourself, you help lift the “all or nothing” requirement for success—for any goal.

By giving yourself some relief from perfectionitis, you more easily and consistently move towards the best possible version of you—which is an every changing mark.

To get some relief from perfectionitis, begin by (my coach Kendra E. Thornbury gets credit for this exercise):

• Making a list of all the things about yourself that you believe are unacceptable.
• Creating a second list of all the things that are acceptable about yourself—and add in the items from the other list.

You may need to do this several times, or read it every day, or slowly add the items from the first list to the second list.

Fortunately you don’t have to be perfect! Do this in a way that feels like progress to you.

Embracing everything about you—your light and your dark—is an important step in learning to love your way slim.

Together we can do it!