Are you regretting what you had to eat yesterday for the holiday seasons. Where are you eating like it was your last holiday or maybe had that dish that you only get once a year. For some, it’s really hard to have those special days and balance them out while eating healthy. Sometimes we beat ourselves up mentally and berate ourselves knowing that we’ve done damage after knowing we had done so good for so long. Shame and guilt shut you down and make you either want to avoid thinking about it or plunges you even deeper into emotional over eating. Here’s how to move on and refocus on your healthy eating plan:
– Identify why you overdid it in the first place. It could be that you wanted a little bit of everything or maybe you told yourself you won’t see this food again for another year. Or perhaps stressful family situations cause you to take comfort in second helpings. Use this experience as a learning opportunity. If you were eating moderately until your Aunt brought out the pecan pie after you already ate a slice of apple pie, walk yourself through the steps to figure out what you might do differently next time. Perhaps you could ask how many pies there will be, figure out which you prefer and practice graciously declining the first pie while waiting patiently for the preferred want to come.
– Surround yourself with positive mantras. A healthy lifestyle is about “progress, not perfection”. When you’re facing eating challenges in the near future, tell yourself quotations such as “I can only control this minute, I can’t change the past or control the future”. “I don’t like what I did, but I still like me” or one of my favorites is “Tomorrow is another day”.
– Comfort yourself without calories. Stressing about eating isn’t doing yourself any favors. Stress triggers production of the hormone cortisol, which in turn can make you crave sugary, fatty foods. Find cortisol-reducing activities, like drinking black tea, which can lead to as much as a 47% dip in your cortisol. Or try self massage, like placing a tennis ball under your foot and rolling it around to relieve achy feet. Three minutes of deep breathing can also help you to get and stay calm and centered or try gentle stretching, like yoga.
– Set attainable daily goals. Use process goals like a daily 15 minute walk versus an outcome goal such as losing 5 pounds. Process goals are ones you set every day that eventually lead to an outcome goal. Crossing out a simple process goal daily will help you feel accomplished and stay focus. Research has also shown but a brisk 15 minute walk may help reduce chocolate cravings and keep your mind off snacking.
– Be mindful of scale behaviors. Don’t hop on the scale daily and especially after a large meal or a big oops. You’ll only feel discouraged and disappointed which can also lead to binge eating behaviors. Obsessing about ups and downs on the scale can make or break your mood. 75% of people who lost weight and kept it off for at least a year weigh themselves weekly, so do it the same day of the week in the morning and record it so you can keep track of it.
Making healthy eating choices takes effort and it isn’t done casually. Adopting an all or nothing thinking is self destructive and that drains the energy you need to stay on track. You have to be good to yourself in order to succeed at weight loss, so practice self compassion often. I hope this helps you the next time you have an overindulgence. Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/sandivw
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