Weight Loss and the Beauty of Imperfection

There’s a questionable belief underlying the pursuit of perfection, and that is that perfection is attainable. Has it occurred to you the pursuit of perfection — and the uncompromising effort associated with it — is in itself, an imperfection? The beauty of imperfection is that it shines a light on our very human faults and blemishes, directing us toward our greatest learning.

Let’s consider how perfectionism may be getting in the way of your weight loss efforts. Oh look, it’s Monday… time to start another round of dieting and exercise. After all, if you’re a perfectionist, you want a clean slate right? OK, so you made it through Monday by pulling out all the stops and focusing all your energy on your weight loss (never mind that you forgot to go to work or the dog didn’t get fed). It’s Tuesday and you’re riding high — until that sugar withdrawal headache hits you early afternoon. Who feels like exercising? Now it’s Wednesday and you’ve got a wicked case of the munchies. There goes the proverbial towel into the ring. Thursday has arrived. Do you continue? Of course not. Tuesday’s inactivity and yesterday’s indulgence means your clean slate is blemished. Hmm, may as well have a free-for-all until you start this whole process again… on Monday.

Sound familiar? The drawback with perfectionism is that you never get to a point where you’re truly “in the process” of losing weight. You’re always giving up or starting over, so you never get to experience progress. Perfection is not necessary for progress and in fact, will hinder it. That’s because progress shows up in different shapes and forms, especially in the early stages of weight loss. For example, if your typical response to a stressful situation has you heading straight for the kitchen to down an entire package of <insert your favourite comfort food here>, progress for you right now may be in consuming only half the package this time.

Progress is relative to what you would have done the time before not how perfect you’re doing this time. When you’re driven by perfectionism, you won’t recognize this as progress. Herein lies your imperfection and the rich gift of learning that it offers. Ever wonder why you keep experiencing the same obstacles again and again in your weight loss efforts? It’s because you didn’t mine the learning the last time they came up… you either gave up or started over. Without the learning, you guarantee a return to these same obstacles again and again.

Another way to think of imperfection is “action in progress but not completed”. The next time you find yourself experiencing those same obstacles, rather than giving up or starting over, simply ask yourself “what can I do differently this time?” and complete your action. Regardless of the outcome, you will learn something about what works or doesn’t work for you and contribute to your progress. A life coach can play a vital role at this time in keeping your bigger, longer-term picture in mind so that these obstacles don’t unravel your efforts.

A final note on the pursuit of perfection… isn’t it interesting how we expect this of ourselves more so than others? But when it comes right down to it, it’s the humanness in people, our imperfection — with all its glorious faults and blemishes — that holds the real appeal and what we all respond to and connect most deeply with.