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Are you trying to be the best version of yourself, but somehow this is getting confused with trying to be perfect!? Believe me, I know just what this feels like and it can be so stressful and counterproductive to health and wellbeing. If you’re anything like me, when you set out on a health and wellness mission you give yourself a list of rules and strict measures that HAVE to be adhered to otherwise why bother. I have been like this for most of my adult life and let me tell you, it’s absolutely no fun at all. Life should be about enjoyment, balance and fun, and yes of course making healthy choices to feed and nourish your body, but why does it have to be one or the other. Can’t we do both?

It has taken me a long time to get to this point where I believe it’s so important to find a happy medium and a “beautifully balanced” approach to life. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I no longer say no to everything and I try (as hard as I can) to adopt an 80/20 approach to everything I do these days. Trying to be perfect just isn’t good for the mind. Not for me anyway. It might be good for my body to only say yes to green juices, raw rainbow salads and beautiful buddha bowls…but my soul needs me to say yes to family afternoon teas, Sunday lunches with Yorkshire puddings, birthdays with my favourite cakes and treats, because these events and time spent with loved ones over my favourite dishes are what nourishes my soul.

Saying no or telling myself that something is not allowed immediately makes me crave it and I find that it becomes my focus. Nowadays nothing is off limits! I know that 80% of the time I am fuelling my body with organic nourishing wholefoods, and then the remaining 20% is when I can have the treats and indulgences. This keeps my body, and more importantly my mind, happy and healthy. Surely that should be what life is all about.

The “OCD” side to my personality used to tell me that it had to be the perfect time to start too. This has been my absolute downfall over the years. If I’d had a bad run of treating my bodily horribly (eating badly, not moving much, generally being unkind to myself) then I could only start afresh if it was a Monday, or the 1st of the month (if the 1st happened to be a Monday then this was a double bonus!), or when I had some clear time in the diary when I knew that my efforts wouldn’t be ruined by any social activities! What?! This is crazy, why can’t I make better decisions immediately, or at the next meal, why do I have to wait until the perfect time you know,when the full moon is out and a cat turns in circles three times whilst wearing a pink tutu! ;-)

You can make a decision to be kind to yourself at any moment…so when will your fresh start be, your page 1 of 365.

L x