Monday morning, I jumped out of bed and strapped on my favorite fanny pack. There was a storewide 50% off sale at our local thrift store. And, my mom and I wanted to be there when the double doors opened.
I had a fantastic rhythm going on as I slid the coat hangers down the middle of the rack. It was like, “Slide, slide, stop. Slide, slide, stop. Slide (not for me), slide (that’s got a stain), stop (this has possibilities). Slide (what were they thinking when they made this), slide (that’s gonna wrinkle too easily), stop (Welcome to Rachel’s shopping cart!).
But, my shopping rhythm was interrupted by a style of shorts I have always wanted to wear, but can never make work.
Knowing me so well, my mother began heading my way as she saw me frozen in the middle of the aisle. It must be another pair of those shorts, she rightly guessed. They’re my white whale, for sure. I’ve tried on this style of shorts a million times. But, they’re always a Moby Dick to me. I can NEVER get them over my butt!
Mom grabbed a high-waisted pair of pants on her way to me. Holding them up and shaking them a bit for effect, she began to compliment, “Hey, did you see these? You have such a tiny waist! These would look great on you!!”
It didn’t matter that they were from the junior boys section. She just needed a distraction because I was stuck staring at these shorts I knew I couldn’t wear.
When she finally reached my side, reality set in and she reminded me, “We can’t try anything on, (because COVID). I don’t think you want to risk it.”
There were plenty of clothes in the store I could wiggle my way into in a pinch. Even if I needed a running start to get in them and had to lay on the bed to zip them up, I could make it work. But not these shorts. My butt just does not fit in these pants! If I am ever going to get into these style shorts, I’m going to have to work on my butt.
It’s the same with my health goals. I have some plans for my future, but I also have some “buts” that just don’t fit in those plans.
For example, I have plans to exercise every day. BUT, I don’t want to exercise if it’s hot outside. BUT, I don’t want to exercise if I’m sore. BUT, I don’t want to exercise if there’s something more fun to do in that time slot. My plans are amazing. However, I can’t squeeze my “BUT” in them.
As you can imagine, a lot of people ask us about our ketogenic lifestyle. They have plans for getting healthy, kicking their sugar and carb addictions, losing weight, and being around for their friends and family…the plans go on and on. And, they’re really amazing plans for a bright future! We get super excited hearing about the plans they have for themselves. So, we share about what they can do to get started. Sometimes we sit down with them for a couple hours. And then, they show us their “BUTS.”
“BUT, I just can’t give up this, this and the other.”
“BUT, this isn’t a good time for me right now.”
“BUT, I’m not sure this would work for me.”
“BUT, I’m not sure this is sustainable.”
When we part ways, our hearts are usually hurting badly for these people. Because we know their “BUTS” don’t fit in their plans.
Even within the keto community, we’ve got a lot of “BUTS” hanging out.
Folks have plans to kick their sweet tooth, cut out wonky ingredients and get rid of inflammatory oils.
BUT they just need to, have to, want to, sometimes, always, can’t help, continuing to do this one, itty bitty, counterproductive thing.
Can’t we just squeeze this BUT in the plan?
I wish we could squeeze it in. Truly, I do. I wish we could squeeze the BUTS in our plans even more than I wish I could squeeze my butt in those pants.
But, we can’t.
This week, the challenge is to work on our “BUTS.” What’s the ingredient or behavior you know you need to work out of your life so that you can successfully fit into the plans you have for yourself?
I know we can do it. No buts about it.
