I ate one piece of cake - I might as well eat the rest if it (???!!!)
I looked at that cake and then I said to myself, "Self, if you lost five dollars from your wallet would you take the rest of the money and throw it away?"
What do y'all think - why do some of us think that way?
I am like that too. If I ate one cookie I'd think "I already failed. I will go buy a pizza, some coke and candy bars and then start over tomorrow." You're right though, it is senseless.
Yeah, it's ridiculous. I don't know why we do it to ourselves. I have managed to somehow stay away from that mentality this time, and I think it's the number one reason I've managed to be successful THIS time, out of all the other times I've given up. Because the "start over tomorrow" mentality easily slips into "start over on Monday" and then "start over on the first of the month" and then "start over on January first."
I have definitely been there, done that and changing thinking that way has been a huge part of this journey. I like your analogy to money. There are a couple of other analogies that I have seen here that have helped me tremendously.
If you trip on a steep flight of stairs, and fall down a few of them, do you keep going even though it means walking a few of the stairs twice, or do you decide that climbing the stairs is impossible and throw yourself to the bottom.
OR
If you slip while you are climbing a mountain… do you throw yourself the rest of the way down? No you don’t. You regain your footing and keep climbing.
I'm a big beleiver in if its worth it its worth doing now, if i mess up i tell myself right there and then that its ok and that i can fix it and i start again there and then. Don't get me wrong i mess up quite alot but when i relise it i dont just carry on its not worth giving up one day for what you've been working so hard for so long for
lol, you guys are so right. This has really been a problem for me A LOT. 'Starting over the next day' it's nice to be able to look at it differently. It's hard to think when your focused on eating your own weight in junk food cause you messed up :(
Such good analogies here! Ya know... it boils down to willingness to work through the "I might as well eat the rest" mentality. That's what we have to learn to do. I love these thoughts...I think they will be helpful. Thanks.
I love the analogy about the stairs and the money!! Too true. I ate a bit more than I intended last night and indulged in dessert. It wasn't a binge but not 100% OP, the thought DID cross my mind to go whole hog after that. I could have gotten seconds or thirds of everything...but that old thinking is getting farther and farther away from today's reality for me.
I didn't let myself begin to feel guilty over the food. The guilt feelings are what always led to me then "throwing myself down the stairs"...It is what is is...I ate more ham than I needed and took a bigger scoop of the scalloped potatoes than I planned and the cake...??? Didn't have that budgeted in my calories for the day.
I think one of the biggest challenges in being on a "getting healthier" plan over the long term is the very hard work of reprogramming our brains...it's not just about restricting calories over the short term, it is truly about rewriting the road maps in our brain in regards to our relationship and emotions surrounding food, punishment, reward, etc.
Thanks for this post!!
Last edited by Michelle98272; 04-05-2010 at 02:56 PM.
I never felt any guilt about eating one piece. So I never rationalized to myself, "May as well just eat the rest." Instead, I ate the rest because I just wanted to
This has been my number 1 downfall throughout this journey. This crazy all or nothing mentality. I know better, but once I make a bad choice, it's like a mental switch happens in my brain and it's a free for all. No matter how much I know better, it's a mental thing. So I have come up with a mental solution to my mental problem.
I am a calorie counter, so for the last 2 weeks has been to simply count my calories EVERY day. Be accountable no matter what I put in my mouth. I don't want to be on plan or off plan, because that is what does me in. I don't care how slow the weight comes off, I just need it to go in a downward motion. So the plan is to simply count everything, no matter what. I have my limits, but if I go over them the rule is, weigh and measure and log it. This automatically helps because if I come home and want chips, I don't sit with the whole bad, I measure out 1 portion and be done with it. Today is the start of week 3 and I am still weighing and measuring and counting even after a less than perfect Easter dinner. Normally after eating not such a great dinner, it would be sooooo hard for me to be on plan today. But since I never went off plan, today is just the same. Weigh, measure and count. I am very hopeful that this will be a turning point for me.
My brain thinks like that too. It's as if I'm addicted to the, "just give in and eat it ALL" feeling. I'll eat that one piece and then it's... just one more slice. Of course, after that, since I've "ruined" the day I consider it my duty to completely go off course and eat cake freely.
I have never thought of any of those analogies. I mean, no I would NOT throw the rest of my money away or throw myself to the bottom of the stairs because of a slip up. Hmmmmm. This is good stuff to think on.
I ate one piece of cake - I might as well eat the rest if it (???!!!)
You could not have said it better!!!
