"You messed up your diet and you didn't exercise today - so what? You didn't ruin anything. Get back on track tomorrow! If you have one flat tire, do you slash the other three? Of Course Not!" - Jillian Michaels
Terrific to Terrible
Dealing with a momentary diet lapse? Your day started out just wonderful, eating healthy, going for an early morning run, on time for work and suddenly . . . . . the stressful event happens at work. You go to the break room to relax and there they are. Great, gooey, frosted doughnuts with chocolate filling inside. You
can't resist. In an instant it's in your mouth. Your diet has just gone from terrific to terrible, or so you feel.
Good intentions are wonderful, but there will be those times when you eat something you shouldn't. So what do you do about it?
A Lapse . . . Not A Relapse
Don't beat yourself up about it! It happened, it will probably happen again and it's ok. The key is to understand what caused the lapse. A single event like eating the doughnut, or eating extra calories for the day, or missing your exercise regime one time is a simple lapse. Recognize it for what it is but keep it under control so the single lapse does't become a relapse.
When you beat yourself up - you make yourself feel like you have failed and suddenly you might decide to just give up. Remember it's all about a life-style, not a single event.
Change the Response
Work to understand what caused your lapse. Was it stress or loneliness, boredom, fatigue, frustration or even a celebration? Emotions are a key trigger because it's easy to think a delicious treat will make us feel better. Or perhaps it's the fear of experiencing the emotion that makes you eat.
Learning how to identify and deal with the emotion is the answer. Something as simple as writing in a journal what you're feeling, or confiding in a good friend or going for a long walk in nature or even turning up the music and dancing it out. If it is a celebratory event, just celebrate. Drink extra water, have a healthy snack before the event to curb your appetite and just know it is only a one-time event.
Tactics
The daily routines you've implemented to stay on track with your new healthy lifestyle can be a big help when you're tempted. Keeping a daily food log is a good example. When the temptation appears, pull out the food-log and review what you've eaten. Considering what the temptation or indulgence will do
may make you stop right there and re-consider; is it worth it? It also provides a delay tactic which in-turn will diminish that initial big desire to indulge.
Simply employing the delay tactic can also work. Tell yourself you just have to wait 10 minutes before indulging. By the time the 10 minutes is over, you will most likely have moved on to something else and your focus on the indulgence is gone.
Believe in Yourself
Take the time to celebrate yourself. Remind yourself of what you have already accomplished in your new healthy life-style. Reflect on your 'why'. What was the motivation that made you want to set new goals. Review how far you have come already and how you feel about what you have accomplished. Realize that you CAN achieve your goals, you have already demonstrated that.
You are a winner. Every time you by-pass that doughnut, take that walk, pack a healthy lunch and skip the fast food joint is setting the habits and patterns for your new healthy life-style. Believe in yourself.
"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe; your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution." - David J. Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big
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