Real-time Failure: Taking Action to Move Back into Success

Speaking about my hunger drive is a new world to me, and so is blogging. I am learning about both as I do these simultaneously. 

I have learned that I should never title my blog posts in multiple parts.

Last week, I thought there would be nothing that I would like more than to write Part 2 about discovering my trigger foods. This week, the idea is all wrong. 

Writing about my trigger foods from a place of understanding and confidence is not currently where my mind lives right now. I will come back to that.

What I need to do today, at this moment, is refocus myself. To that end, I center one of my favorite personal truths.

There are no magic answers, but the answers feel like magic.

Right now, I am living the first part of this sentence, and there are no magic answers.

But, I know from past experiences that I have a few days before I transition into feeling that the answers are magic. That really isn’t long.

But, living on the first side of the sentence is risky, and the journey to the second side is a hard and vulnerable one, even if I know what awaits.

This is the journey from the razor’s edge to the ledge of safety. But, this is a familiar journey, and I want to make it.

This post is about the ongoing, real-time battle to center my health in the face of failure.

And, this is a battle that occurs regularly with the ups and downs of life, with inconsistent food shopping, inconsistent food preparation.

Re-Solving the Conundrum of Myself

While I made re-solving the conundrum of myself my theme for 2023, the reality is that this is a lifelong theme. There is no other way.

The past few weeks have been busy and have left me off-balance. I can trace this lack of balance to early December.

The specifics are less important than the patterns and processes. There will always be something that leads to periods of struggle, of getting off track. But, how I handle these inevitable moments makes all the difference.

I have a history of using situations to act against my own best interests in the moments when I should be focusing most on acting in my own best interests.

Friday, I made the decision to veer off course in ways that I know I can for long-term success. This involves a lot of clean substitutions for trigger foods. But, it is risky.

I have my tried-and-true failure plan, and I followed it – exceptionally well 🙄😬. Today, I made the decision to turn myself around to get back on track. 

Going Back to My Basics

With the process of re-balancing myself, I find myself going back to my basics mentally. If I don’t, I could regain a lot of weight. Quickly.

I talk frequently about failure and the need to embrace it. The past couple days are examples of how I lose the battle to win the war against myself.

I have gotten away from eating the foods I should be eating. And, I have been eating too much of foods that should only play a small role in my life. 

I know this is a dangerous path if I continue down it. But, right now, I am only 1.5 days in this pattern.

If I pull myself out now, this moment is just a tiny blip in my journey, a short and inevitable detour. 

But, if I don’t pull myself out soon, my history tells me that acting for success will get harder with each passing day. 

Not Just Empty Sayings

The repeated sayings in Transform Shadows are not just meaningless platitudes.

These are the ongoing sayings that I use in my self-talk to sustain a lifestyle change that takes me from success to failure and from failure to success.

Re-focusing myself is always a challenge. Just like starting, taking the first step to turn things around can be one of the hardest steps – even today when I am living at half my highest weight.

I know from experience that this process will take me several days. Things get easier when the answer feels like magic. And, I want that feeling again.

As I get myself back on track, I will use the following self-talk in a complex network of mindsets and actions.

• I am not broken, and I am not fixed. 

• Recover from failure in a timely manner.

• Start where I am now.

• String together more successes than failures.

• Avoid all-or-nothing thinking.

• Find the honest line between grace and accountability.

• Trust the process.

No matter what my failures are or what change I am working to make, these are the mindsets that work in the center of my actions.

Taking the Actions Needed to Transform My Shadows

To get the magic back, my most efficient action plan centers on these:

• Eat high fiber, unprocessed plants in the balances that work for me.

• Exercise regularly, with both strength training and cardio.

• Get enough rest.

If I take these actions, I know that within a few days, I will feel the magic in the answer, There is comfort in knowing how this looks and feels every time I use it.

I will stand on firmer ground soon and will feel much better in every aspect of my life.

Consistency is easier when the answers feel like magic. And, I like that state of being.

Having predictable actions to move from success to failure and from failure to success helps me transform my shadows.