[x0xmelissax0x]

When you feel like you've ruined your day. Like you eat something REALLY high in calories, what do you do? How do you fix it or make up for it? What if you know that even if you exercise.. you still ate more than you can make up for?

[PeeB]

Dont worry about it! Its over. I would just go back to what I was doing... I might work out a little more for a couple days... I might not. I would tell myself this: Its not going to ruin all your efforts. Just remember how bad you feel about it and try not to do it again, and just get back to your routine. Your day is not ruined, you go back RIGHT NOW to your hard work, and build back up that long, clean record of doing right!

[PsycoPhat]

Well, you can either think that you've blown it, forget your eating plan and eat whatever you want for the rest of the day.

Or, you can look at it as a small speed bump - get over it and move on to the next meal and eat the right way. Have a lower calorie dinner with lots of veggies and exercise the way you normally would.

You can't dwell on what you've eaten. The best thing you can do is journal exactly how you feel now and read that entry the next time you feel you're going to blow your diet.

Everyone is going to make poor decisions some times, don't beat yourself up over it. This is just one day on a journey with many more days to come.

Keep up the good word.

Kathy

[srmb60]

I start again. The best we can do is to do 'the right thing, right now'.

[butterfly28]

I'm with everyone else, I just start again. Tomorrow is always a new day!

[kykaree]

I'm with everyone else, just forget it. It's not the end of the world, and the weight you have lost won't come back on as punishment (it took me a long time to realise that one blow out wouldn't mean I was unworthy and that I deserved to gain all my weight back)

[sierra_ttw]

I need to exercise after I blow it - even if I know it'll only make a dent in what I ate, it always makes me feel better. So does sticking to super-healthy stuff for the rest of the day - that way you know that you might have had a little slip-up, but it's over and you're back on track. I find that if you give up for the rest of the day you feel even worse after.

[sotypical]

I find I always feel better when I exercise too. I know it doesn't make a huge difference calories wise but it makes a huge difference in how I feel. Rather then sitting around going OH NO I totally screwed up today! I sit around and go WOW I had an amazing work out! I feel great. Works everytime! For me anyway

[sarahyu]

I brush my teeth and say it's in the past. Nothing I can do about it. Usually I also think in terms of making it a learning experience. Why did I do that? Many times it can be that I'm upset about something else and used food to try to stuff down the feelings, or I'm tired or hungry and that was the first thing I saw.

And sometimes it's something I really like and it tasted good and would do it again in moderation. Then I sit back with a sigh of satisfaction and say , "da** that was good." But quickly put the rest out of site so I'm not tempted to eat the entire thing. That's usually at company pot luck lunches when someone brings in the big cheese cakes.

Sarah

[NotTheCheat]

Besides forgiving myself and trying to move on, I also take a moment to try and see what my motivation was for having eaten whatever it was. I find I learn so much about myself from spending a few minutes analyzing my feelings and motivations. It has been one of the things that has really helped me to change my behavior slowly over time.

[SwimGirl]

I echo everyone else... every meal is a new start! And if you "blow it" at lunch, thats perfect timing! You have dinner and a chance to exercise!

-Aimee

[LLV]

Well... I try not to dwell on it too much and just move on. I don't really get bummed out about it or anything, but I feel sluggish when I know I've eaten too much and get this sudden urge to go out and run around the block, lol.



I know the exercise isn't going to do a whole lot to fix all of the damage, but I think it's a psychological thing. Like Easter night, for example. Boy oh boy, did I eat on Easter! And not only did I eat a lot of food, I was digging into the candy as well. Then I got hungry again later on and made a sandwich and ate a bunch of peanuts. 10:30 at night, I'm in my room doing sit-ups and leg lifts

[Ilene]

I move on too... As soon as I started doing this a few years ago, I finally started to lose weight ... Before I would just say the heck with it and out the rest of the day, but no more ... You are always 3 hours away from a good healthy clean meal!

[TBJ333]

I don't do well at all! But reading these posts was inspiration.

[watercolors]

I used to beat myself up mercilessly, which spiralled downward into self-loathing which meant more mess-ups. Then one day, I realized--I would NEVER berate anyone for that. . .why was I doing that to myself? For a lot of people, it's easy to move on, but for some of us it's not. . .

So, now I treat my dieting self like I do my students. I work with at-risk teens, so their slip-ups are pretty huge, but I would never allow them to assume that a set-back meant they were failures. Instead, I walk them through this process, and now I walk myself through it. It's funny, but it is hard for me to do this, but I'm working on it and each time I make a mistake and do this I get better at letting go of my mistakes and moving on.

1. Acknowledge the mistake/error--

student example--I got in a fight
Me Example--I ate the contents of my fridge last night
(usually I have to rethink this a couple of times, because I exaggerate at first. . .It helps to be specific about how much, because you start to realize that it's not as big as you made it.)

2. Ask yourself what triggered that mistake/error--

student example--That girl was talking about me and I got angry/hurt.
me example--I was alone, the food was there, and I was watching tv.

3. Check the consequences of that mistake/error--

student example--I ruined my nails, I got suspended, I'm going to get beat tonight.
me example--I took in a ton of calories, my weightloss is going to take longer now, I'm disappointed in myself

4. Ask "Did anyone die?" (seriously. . .if nobody's dead, it's gonna be ok. . .and sometimes it helps to say this aloud)

5. Come up with 3 positive better choices you can make next time (positive means they can't be "I won't do. . .")

student example--I will talk to her in private, I will walk away, I will get a peer mediator, I will ignore it until people start talking about something else
me example--I will go out, I will clean house, I will practice my instrument, I will go online and posted, I will call a friend.

6. Decide if it's fixable, and what you can do.

student example--I can talk to her. I can come up with another punishment and suggest it to mom
me example--I can work out tomorrow morning. I can clean the really tempting foods from my fridge now. I can work out a little more all week

Ok, this is a long post. . .sorry about that. But this is something I've been working on for a while, and it's a process I've got a looooong way to go on, but this is what helps me be a little nicer to myself when I mess up.