Simply consuming more fresh foods, herbs, whole grains, nuts, fish, replacing butter with olive oil, and moving more, you too can consider yourself a part of the Mediterranean diet craze. The little nuances in this eating style make all the difference, and when coupled with regular physical activity make a popular choice among many Americans looking for a new way to loose weight and keep it off. The Mediterranean diet is a perfect example of the principles of moderation and consistency put to practice in the way we choose to eat.
When creating balanced lifestyle strategies, especially those that include losing the excess in life such as weight, emotional stress, or activities, one must consider moderation in all things; exercise, food (especially dessert), fun, work, indoor and outdoor activities. Moderation is the key to consistency, which is the key to success. When applying tools such as new food choices that assist us to remove to the outer layers, or things in the present moments of our life that are in excess, we are better able to remove the under layers that sabotage our success.
Moderation motivates, as it is not extreme and does not lend its self to disappointment or discouragement we do not stop our progress to wallow in these feelings of failure. Fear and failure, plus the fear of failure are the biggest obstacles to making permanent change in our lives. We fear either change it’s self with all of its contingent emotions, or we fear that we will fail and never begin, or if we do begin in spite of the fear of failure, we create self-fulfilling prophecies about our failure. Any way you look at it fear gets in the way. Moderate changes in lifestyle are not scary because they do not require us to let go of so much of what is familiar all at once. So, moderation motivates because it is comfortable.
Slow and steady wins the race and I play to win, do you? In the parable of the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise wins the race with a consistently slow pace. The hare, assuming he has already won due to his confidence in his speed, foolishly falls asleep under a tree and wakes up too late to win the race. Those with who consistently apply themselves to change in a way that is simple and moderate will find themselves at the finish line sooner than they think. Imagine if you will, the last time you took on some fad diet. How long did it last before you were discouraged and gave up? What would be different had you chosen to approach your diet in a way that is moderate and consistent? Where would you be now?
A frog placed in cold water and brought up to boil is a cooked frog. A frog immersed in boiling water, immediately jumps out. Maybe that is too many analogies for one short commentary. However, the principle applies to moderation, which is like the cold water being heated; you are less likely to jump out of the pot, the diet, the activity, the relationship etc, if the changes are made at a moderate pace.
Leap into something new, fearlessly,
Elle
