An interstate client of mine wrote to me earlier in the week to get my advice and support on an incident that made her feel pretty crappy. Before I tell you what the incident was, it’s important to know that this client of mine is VERY dedicated to her health & fitness. She recently did the fat-loss detox I recommend, and is now following my training protocol…and she loves how training/eating well makes her feel.
The Slip-Up That Happens To Us All
So my client has become very good at preparation! This is key at staying on track with your diet. If you prepare your food for the week or at least the following day, this will…
- Stop you from buying food on the go…and the wrong food
- Keep your blood sugar levels stable by eating regularly, which again stops you from grabbing that cheeky muffin with your coffee!
- Make sure you know exactly how your food was prepared and what source it came from (ie organic, free-range, cooked with coconut oil etc)
THE SLIP-UP…
My client has kindly let me quote part of her email to me, revealing her slip-up…
I do have an eating question though. Of late, my eating hasn’t been as clean as it used to be – my biggest downfall was yesterday. I wasn’t organised enough with food for the whole day and managed to only have a snack for lunch, thinking it was okay – however when it came time after dinner it was like I had no self control and one track mind for anything glutinous. I had 5 xmas mine pies and a donut and felt complete and utter shame and disgust. I tried to do some forgiveness work on myself and was happy to discover the underlying cause (of not enough good fats and protein throughout the day and will not make that mistake again!) but I was wondering if (and if you do when) you go through something like this what are your coping strategies for it the next day?
How I Stop Myself From Feeling Guilty
Do I ever go through something like this? Sure I do, I’m human like the rest of you, but it doesn’t happen often. In saying that, I did have a minor slip-up only a couple of weeks ago. I was feeling very emotional about a boy – I talked briefly about this here – and demolished 3 tim tams in a row because I wanted to feel better and because I felt like I deserved it! I was suffering god damn it! 😉
Did I feel guilty? Yes I did…for about a minute! I felt guilty for that fleeting moment as I NEVER eat biscuits, especially tim tams (even though I luv ’em!) because I know they’re processed and packed full of sugar and trans fats. If anything, it’s some yummy dark, raw chocolate that I go for, but tim tams? Never. It’s only because my flatmate had them in the house (excuses, excuses, haha) that I B-lined for them!
Anyway, I was able to dissolve that moment of guilt very quickly as I know that not being forgiving of myself is very harmful…as is having negative thoughts going on in your head after slipping-up such as:
- I’m weak
- I’ve ruined all my hard work
- I’m never going to be able to reach my goal
- I feel like shit. I’m ugly, I’m fat, I’m useless…
And then the yo-yo dieting begins…
When I ate those totally delicious tim tams that I thoroughly enjoyed, I said to myself “you know what Liz, you never eat these and you work hard on your body and your health…I give you permission to enjoy them.” And I did. I let go of the guilt and the “I shoulds” and I didn’t think about it again.
Did I consciously eat a little more clean for the rest of the week…yeah, I did, but not outragelously different to how I normally eat. I was probably just a little more conscious of my sugar intake, but certainly felt no pressure, guilt or shame the following day after my slip-up.
Strategies For Overcoming Guilt
In my opinion, there are 4 primary reasons why we slip-up on our diet…
- It tastes good – whatever your vice is. And if it’s anything that has sugar in it, it’s also extremely addictive
- Emotional reasons – comfort food or a reward – you want to make yourself feel better
- You’ve had an afternoon lull (usually from not eating the right ratio of macronutrients throughout your day) and need a sugary ‘pick me up’
- Self-sabotage – deep seeded self-worth issues (although this one is probably more for those who continuously slip-up, rather than occasionally…that’s a different subject I may write about later)
Okay, so you’ve slipped-up…what do you do now?
- Forgive yourself, let it go and then get back on track
- Don’t have your ‘treat meal’ if you had it scheduled for later in the week
- Throw in an extra training session if it makes you feel more in control, but no need for over-training and stressing your body out
- As I’ve already mentioned, eat a little more clean for the rest of the week but don’t obsess over it or do some radical fast
- Focus for a minute on how you are feeling – the disappointment, guilt, shame…and then think about how you feel when you don’t grab that muffin or eat all that cheese…this feeling of being in control of your weight and health needs to be so strong, that you can stop yourself next time. Remember how you felt the last time you slipped-up
Try these affirmations of mine:
- I love you and I forgive you
- I am in control of my mind and my body
- I lovingly and willingly let go of all feelings of guilt and shame. I forgive myself
- My body is my temple and I do my best to love and respect it
Do you have slip-ups? What makes you slip-up and what are your copying strategies? I’d luv to hear from you! 🙂
