During a wellness or weight loss journey we can get so caught up in being successful that we are extra hard on ourselves.  We can try so hard to get everything right. Everything must be logged. Workouts can’t be missed. Calorie goals must be met. Weight loss targets must be hit each week or month.  There is so much happening emotionally and physically.  It gets overwhelming. This is the point where you need to give yourself grace.

Getting in Your Head

Many times, during my journey I found myself frustrated because I was missing goals.  Sometimes, I was so caught up in my short-term goals that I ignored my successes.

My biggest nemesis was what I was telling myself.  If I didn’t reach a goal for the week, I would often put myself down.  Even if I dropped a pound during the week, I would get upset if I didn’t hit two pounds. The pressure I put on myself to be successful was suffocating, for a time, I didn’t trust the process.  I got into my head in a negative way.  I had to shift this to stay on track. Negativity wasn’t going to help me succeed. Staying positive can be a struggle.

Be at Peace with Yourself

I often talk about giving yourself grace.  This can be hard, but providing space for you to process the positive is more important than reaching your goals.  Part of a wellness journey is mental wellness.  I played sports my whole life, so I started thinking like an athlete.

When an athlete has a setback, they can dwell on it or move forward.  This isn’t easy, because humans seem to naturally want to dwell on their mistakes, usually because we want to fix them.  Thinking about what went wrong is different than belittling ourselves.  I have always been hard on myself and believed that putting myself down would fix the problem. I then realized, when I played sports, I was at my best when I looked back at the situation, saw where I struggled and worked to fix it.

Give Yourself Grace

Giving yourself grace doesn’t mean that you don’t try to fix the problem, it means you don’t dwell on it.  It means you don’t put yourself down.  There’s a difference between thinking about the struggle and putting yourself down.  When you shift your mindset from self-doubt and putting yourself down to focusing on fixing the problem, you are giving yourself grace.

The journey isn’t going to be easy. No matter how small or slow it may feel, recognizing success is important. Recognizing your struggles and moving forward in a positive manner is giving yourself grace.  When you can change your mindset to allow yourself space, you are winning a big part of the battle. Give yourself grace.