A Slip Isn't a Fall

Jul 19, 2010

I made a couple of food choices that upon reflection I wish I hadn't. No big deal but not what I'd planned. Actually, it isn't necessarily the choices but the way and reason. I ate because I was overly hungry but more it was the reason I ate. I ate over a situation and out of emotion.

When I compare yesterday to quite awhile ago, there's a TON of difference. Slip ups today look like nothing compared to the damage of slip ups before.

None of us are perfect in following our nutritional program and exercise routine. We slip up. It’s not so much a question of “if” as of “when.” Many of us expect absolute perfection of ourselves when we are following a weight loss program. We feel discouraged and a failure when we go off track.

Don’t be discouraged. It is your consistent eating patterns over weeks and months, and not those occasional slip-ups, that determine your weight loss success. What’s more, there are effective strategies for regaining your dietary balance after  those slip-ups when you overdulge or fallen off the wagon. Get right back up and START where you are. Get back on track.  Remember, we didn't gain our weight from one day of less than optimal choices. 

The most important day after a slip up is the day after. THAT is the day that determines being back on track or creating a pattern of being off track. The day after, forgive and forget. Forgive yourself that you slipped up. It is gone. You could reflect on the reasons or cause as to why you went off track. Was it a situation or a person, and the resulting emotions that pulled you off track? Determine what occurred for you, learn from it as to how to do it differently in the future and move forward. Don’t beat yourself up as it does you ZERO good. It can actually cause you to get off track again. The past is the past but the current day and future are yours to do with as you want. If you stay on track on the day after, you’ve already created a momentum of being on track and STAYING on track.

Zoom out on your healthy lifestyle and don’t focus on one small period of time. Look at all you’ve accomplished already. Pick up where you left off and return to your success!

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