Dirty Thirty #6: If You Don't Do It 100%, You Might As Well Not Do It At All

We all have that friend. You know the one. The one that makes you look bad no matter how hard you try. She grows her own food, prepares a different meal every night, exercises three hours a day while you're watching The Real Housewives. Her kids never have a scrap of dirt on them, and their hair is always perfect, and their clothes always pressed. And she does it all in heels! The woman puts June Cleaver to shame! Why are your friends with her, again?

It's people like this who give the rest of us a bad name. We suddenly feel inadequate. We feel that if we can't give 110% to everything that it just isn't worth doing, and that includes how we take care of ourselves.


With this mindset, we are guaranteed to fail. With whatever way of nourishing yourself you choose, strive for 90% and get there slowly. If you're eating doughnuts for breakfast, microwave meals for lunch and drive-thru for dinner, don't throw out everything you know and buy kale for every meal. It's guaranteed to go sit in your fridge and go bad. Start, instead, by eating a banana and drinking a glass of water before you go for the doughnuts in the morning. Once you master that, add a half-hour walk once a week. Small changes over time lead to bigger and more sustainable changes that you can and will maintain in the long term.

While you're on your journey to a healthy lifestyle, and even once you are pretty good at it, CHEAT!!! Once a week (or, dare I say, twice?), go for that brownie. Heck, go for the brownie sundae. Studies show that if we have a "cheat" day, we are more likely to stay on track the rest of the week. Store-bought cake at work? Skip it, knowing that you are going out to dinner on Friday and will indulge in your favorite chocolate lava cake à la mode. Make cheating a part of your habit, and you will succeed.

Oh, and that friend I mentioned before? Check her closets and the back of her pantry; she's not perfect, either!

What's your favorite cheat? Share in the comments below.

Check back tomorrow for another Dirty Thirty!