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RECOVERING FROM A BAD DAY (or Weekend)

So, this weekend was a bad weekend for me on my health and wellness journey.

I let stress get the better of me and I went on a two and a half day eating binge. Some of my food choices were the problem: cookie dough, candy bars, potato chips, ice cream, rice crispy treats. Some of the problem was the AMOUNT of food I ate: a HEAPING plate of jambalaya, another huge plate of chicken and broccoli stir-fry, fast food chicken sandwich and French fries, fast food burritos, and another huge container of Chinese takeout.

I really don’t know what came over me.

I was stressed out and I let a single slip up with cookie dough on Friday night avalanche into a weekend of eating EVERYTHING that crossed my path.

BUT….

I’m not letting it get me down.

Before I started this journey, I would have completely given up on the idea of healthy eating after having a weekend like that. I would have beaten myself up and asked what was the point of even trying when I had messed up so badly. I would have thought the “damage” done in a single weekend was “irreversible”.

But a couple of the things I’m learning about on this wellness journey are SELF-
COMPASSION, and ditching the ALL-OR-NOTHING approach.

First, Self-Compassion. Such a simple concept that I’m learning to embrace. If my best friend came to me and told me how badly they had messed up their healthy eating efforts, what would I say to them?

And I told myself the exact same thing I would have told them: one weekend of bad eating doesn’t erase the progress you’ve made; it doesn’t wreck your entire health and wellness journey, it only sidetracked it for a moment; and today is a new day with new opportunities to make better choices.

Which leads me into the second concept I’m working on, and that is losing the All-or-Nothing attitude. For years, I’ve lived under the very bad impression that in order to lose weight, get healthy, eat better, exercise more, etc., it had to be ALL IN or it wouldn’t work. If I wasn’t going to go for it, I might as well not even bother.

Now, the approach is more relaxed. “Okay, I messed up and overate on lots of junk food all weekend long. Today, I’m going to make a healthy choice and eat grilled chicken and veggies for lunch. And then I’m going to make another healthy choice and pick soup and a salad for dinner.” Making the BETTER choice today will lead to making better choices tomorrow and the next day and the next.

And when I make an unhealthy choice down the road – and I promise it WILL happen – I’m going to show myself a little compassion, I’m going to ignore my tendency to take the All-or-Nothing approach, and I’m going to pick right back up where I left off and work on making the BETTER choice most of the time.

Until next time….

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