It’s easy to look at social media and think everyone out there is a super talented home chef who makes Insta-ready meals every night, but that’s definitely not the case. Our society is riddled with perfectionism. Even as we grew up, we all struggled with the same issue: we needed to be perfect. We needed to be the perfect child, the perfect student, the perfect friend. As adults graduating into the workforce we applied the same rules and aimed to be the perfect employee or team member. The list goes on.
What can I say? As I’m sitting writing this blog post, I am dealing with perfectionism, too.
When it comes to meal planning and prep, I know that perfectionism is one of the biggest issues people face when trying to get started or keep up the habit. My Fired Up Meal Plan Subscribers talk about this all the time, so to help you out I’m sharing my 3 ways to beat meal planning perfectionism. These are how I overcame perfection in my meal planning and prep and became a Meal Prep Wiz!
“Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for ‘better than yesterday’.”
— Izey Victoria Odiase
Done is Better than Perfect
In a world obsessed with perfect, it’s tough to hear but my best advice is: go for good enough. When you get in your head, you make things harder on yourself – and that kind of self-sabotage will hold you back from doing anything at all. Just enjoy making your food and make it the way you like it. Stop trying to make it look like a perfect chef’s plate. (Remember: even chefs didn’t start out making perfect, social-ready plates. If that’s where you want to be, it’s still a process of learning!)
Accept that You’re Only Human
We wear perfectionism on us like badges of honour! Accepting the simple truth that if your meal plan isn’t perfect, you won’t be rejected or shunned. There won’t be any serious consequences. Didn’t make enough to have your dinner for lunch the next day? Bought too much of one ingredient and none of another? Made a meal you didn’t really like? All of these things happen to all of us from time to time and absolutely none of them are serious.
When the time comes for you – just like it did for me – you will want to shred that badge and let your ego go. You will want to shine as you really are: perfectly imperfect – AKA human!!
Compare Yourself Only to Yourself
It’s a natural human response to compare ourselves to others, but the only person we should be comparing ourselves to is ourselves! It is so important to look back at your progress and celebrate it. Appreciate yourself for what you’ve done, rather than what everyone else is doing. See what you’ve overcome to get where you are. Truly, it’s the most satisfying thing to see where you started and see where you are and know how far you’ve come.
Those are my 3 ways to beat meal planning perfectionism. Now, when I say to enjoy your food as you make it, enjoy the messiness of it and the beauty of the nourishment it provides you will see what I am really trying to say!
We are all beautiful and perfectly imperfect! I love you for who you are and the meals you make are amazing – you are a MEAL PREP WIZ!!