Hmmm, it really sounds like cognitive dissonance that y'all are describing, not denial. ;)

I am experiencing cognitive dissonance, because I find ways to explain away the reasons why I don't get enough sleep, while the fact remains I DO NOT SLEEP ENOUGH and it is damaging to every part of my being. Yes, I am busy. Yes, there is stress. I still need to work on getting more sleep and stop making concessions for this unhealthy way of being.

I'm in denial that those saltines I ate after lunch didn't matter...or the microwave popcorn yesterday....

Oops! I really wasn't on-plan was I? But that's what I thought when I posted on my accountability thread last night....

Guess it's time to go back to logging in to fitday again...

I'm in denial about the fact that Splenda is, most likely, going to screw with my brain eventually. I know this, yet I put it in EVERYTHING. That and phenalalanine will give me cancer. I should really be more afraid of cancer given that my mother died of it a few years ago, but somehow I manage to drink diet coke anyway.

That and I have a tendency to ignore the effects of the actual nutritional content or lack thereof of the food I eat as long as it has few calories, and I frequently assume that those rules about starvation levels don't apply to me. Whenever I try to deal with the fact that 1200 calories is meant as a guideline and not a high-end limit, it discourages me so much that usually I don't bother.

I don't think I am in denial. I am very good at judging portions, I know lots about the nutritional content of various foods, I know that exercise is good for my heart. I know that I am the one responsible for me. Sometimes I just choose to ignore the facts and feel guilty as he!! about it. No excuses or explanations. LOL. Don't misunderstand, this is NOT "a good thing", I just don't think it qualifies as denial.

Right! Not "denial". :)