Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

There have been plenty of times in the past when I have tried to stick to a particular diet or eating plan only to end up eating foods, or amount of foods, not on the plan.  And there have been plenty of times when that has happened in the past that my thought process was something similar to how a lot of people think....

"What the heck!  I already blew it, so I might as well REALLY blow it!"  And then I would start grabbing everything I've been resisting, denying myself from, only to end up calling and ordering that 'Meat Lovers' pizza, and then some!  Call it a binge, a pig out, or losing control.  I never felt better afterward, never.

Never did I look back and think, "boy, I needed that".  I always felt regret, failure, weakness, and let's not forget fat!  But truly for me, it's rare when that happens anymore. Oh, the part when I eat something different from the "plan" is not rare, it's the out of control part, the binge, the pigging out above and beyond the first action of an extra serving (or two), or God forbid after eating a whole melon (is that just me?)

I am successful at stopping myself way before complete chaos.  How?  Well, first I relax about the judgement.  Eating a little bit more is not a big deal, eating a lot more, a ton more, is a big deal! The fact that I didn't, or couldn't be perfect and stay on whatever plan I had made with myself that day must not be that important or it would motivate me to act differently.  Hmnn, maybe some reflection, maybe not....move on, let's not throw the baby out with the bath water!

This mind set of "blowing it" can be very destructive, and is!  Because it's not just the extra calories, it's the feelings behind the judgements we make about our strength and character because of an extra serving once in a while.  And that's what it would be, an extra serving once in a while, until we turn it into a full blown frenzy of hating ourselves.  We say things to ourselves like, "there must be something wrong with me that I can't control this.  I have no willpower, I have no discipline, I will never lose this weight....I'll never be perfect...etc."

Personally I may have my extra servings, and find myself still triggered with that feeling of "F" it!  But I don't let myself fall into the trap. I already know the deal and it's not one I want to make anymore.  It's boring.  It's tiring.  Not worth it, in fact, really, really, really not worth it.

If you do find yourself eating more than you thought you wanted to just remind yourself to practice stopping sooner, maybe not completely, but sooner, and see how much better you feel!  Instead of looking back and beating yourself up you might feel proud that you relaxed a bit and didn't "blow it"!  Pride in how you didn't let a few cookies pull you into the depths of despair!  You might even feel successful and strong!

I know how much food can be consumed in one sitting!  Don't stuff yourself because you don't think you have another option.  You have all the options, all the choices.  Chose to feel good, and good feelings will choose you.

That reminds me....this is one of the reasons why I have really come to deeply disagree with all of the PC labels we've come to assign to foods and diets.  I'm really tired of other people putting themselves up on pedestals because they believe what and how they eat is "better", and making many of us to question how "good" do we eat?

But realistically I know at the end of the day, I'm the one making the choice to feel bad, or defensive....just a bit of a rant.  Maybe I'll write more in the morning....or maybe I'll waste another couple of hours trying to edit my video on my iPad (a little bit of anger and frutration?  maybe.)