{Expectations}

Monday morning, I met with Pete Cohen, our “weightloss guru” from The United Kingdom.

I’ll be honest — I had absolutely NO idea what to expect from him.  Yeah, I had read his emails, seen his tweets, and watched a few video segments on his website.

But, despite all of that, I really wasn’t sure who this guy was; there were just too many different Petes.

Then, there was his Skype profile picture.  (wow)

Ok, I’ll admit — I’m a shy, prudish kind of gal; the sight of a well-built man in his swimsuit .  .  . at the beach . . . was just a bit more than my puritanical mind could take.

Turns out, Pete Cohen is a completely normal, intelligent, relate-able guy who knows what he’s talking about.

(I should have known better — everyone else Leah has us working with is great!)

We left the hour long conversation with “Go Britannia” flags waving and an assignment for me: “think about expectations — the good and negative.”

Yeah, expectations — those silly little things that left me a bit wary about meeting Pete — are a problem for me.  I tend to expect too much, too quickly; instead of being patient and enjoying the journey, I become frustrated if things move slowly or I’m not able to meet my goals on (what I consider to be) the perfect time-line.

It’s been the same over the the past 3 weeks; I’ve stressed over the numbers on the scale, worrying that I wouldn’t reach my goal by the end of Mamavation.  Frustrated that I wasn’t seeing my numbers go down fast enough.  Anxious to drop a dress size.

I was visiting the negative side of expectations.

As Pete explained, focusing and obsessing on numbers alone isn’t going to help me achieve what I want.  I could find myself quitting, giving up, burning out. . . not finding any joy in this opportunity to change my life.  And, honestly, what is the point of changing the way I live if I’m not going to enjoy the process?  Who wants to be miserable?  Not this mama!

If I don’t learn to relax and enjoy my new lifestyle, the chances of this lifestyle actually sticking are slim.  So, this next week, as I continue sweating away and eating my 5 meals a day, I will be working on a different goal: having fun.  Enjoying the crisp fresh flavors of my veggies and fruit.  Laughing at myself as I attempt to follow Billy Blank’s erratic Taebo moves.  Breathing deeply of the sweet spring air when I take my children for a walk.

If my weight drops by next Monday, well “woo hoo”.  That’ll just be icing on my imaginary cake.

p.s.  I finally reached 10,000 steps this past weekend!  FINALLY!