stopping self sabotage before it starts

happydaze71

I have never been very good with sticking to anything... this time round has been different, I am very focused and am seeing great results.
Then last week I started getting a panicky feeling, like nothing was happening, and as the days went on I started freaking out.
Then enter the food thoughts.... I am on a strict eating plan and have not suffered from a single craving.
I still haven't had a craving but started thinking about eating rubbish, and it was getting worse.
I woke up this morning like that.... then while I was eating my oats... BAM!!!
The light went on in my head.... SELF SABOTAGE!!!!!!!!!
I am doing really well, so quick, lets throw a spanner in the works.
I was horrified.... NOT happening. Not after all the hard work I have put in, not after I made myself a promise to see this through.
Who else does this to themselves?
Have you been able to stop yourself and recognise it for what it is? Or did you go off the rails, realising only afterward?
GAH!!!! I am so glad that for once I saw what I was doing before I actually did it.

yaseyuku

I stop myself by allowing myself to eat what I want as long as it fits into my daily calories and macros.

gr8xpectationz

I was always a huge self-sabotager. But a few things have helped:

1) A little mantra I try to use to remind myself: "If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the answer." If you're eating to satisfy an emotional need, you'll never feel full because you weren't hungry in the first place.

2) Being on MFP reminds me that I am accountable for the choices I make, and that each choice is a part of a bigger picture. I used to sneak food and imagine that it wouldn't "count". Now I know that whether it's good or bad, "secret" or carefully chosen or totally public, it will be recorded because it DOES "count".

3) Most importantly for me, I’m avoiding all-or-nothing thinking. If I give in to self-sabotage and eat something that will put me over my daily goals, I get over it. Eating ice cream doesn’t mean I’ve blown my diet, and isn’t an excuse to slide into terrible habits that ruin all the progress I’ve made. Historically, one "bad" choice would excuse the next and the next in a slippery slope to failure. Now, I can have a treat every now and then. And be fine with it!

4) The "not now" trick. Self-sabotage manipulates me, but I turn the tables with this little trick: I stopped telling myself "no". Saying "I can't" have dessert feels like deprivation, and turns it into some sort of battle of will-power, which I can't always win. But saying "yes, just not now" makes it seem like no big deal. Can I have a piece of chocolate from the candy bowl at work? YES. Can I have another "Sure, but not right now.... wait just a little bit". More often than not, by the time "later" rolls around, I've forgotten or the craving has passed. It seems like such a dumb little thing, but it has been hugely helpful to me.

5) I've been REALLY trying to stop moralizing food. A carrot stick isn't "good". A piece of cake isn't "bad". If I'm in a "f***-the-world" mood (which is one of the ways I used to justify self-sabotage), I'll have to find a better way to express it than to eat "bad" food, because there is no such thing. There are healthier choices and less healthy choices, but it's all food...none of it is in any way either virtuous or immoral. As long as I log it on MFP, I'm good.

Anyway, KUDOS TO YOU on recognizing this self-sabotage pattern, and best of luck in continuing to battle against it! I hope one or more of these strategies helps.

tekwriter

Staying accountable on MFP was a huge deterrent to self sabotage. There are so many people watching it keeps me closer to the straight and narrow. I used that tecnique also when I quit smoking and it helped. On MFP though it is just a natural occurence.

xstarxdustx

It takes a while, but it'll get easier to combat. It took me a while to realize what I was doing. A message a MFP friend has stuck with me since I realized what I was doing and I haven't done it since.

jen_zz

I used to self sabotage all the time, literally eating when not hungry and hating myself while stuffing my face with processrd carb junk.

It WILL get better, just relax and don't be so hard on yourself.

lalonmeg000

It defiantly gets better as you go along and I can recognize it now but I still have sabotage weeks where it seems no matter how hard I try, I still end up eating terribly. I get through them by reminding myself I haven't given up therefore I haven't failed. Now I can kind of pinpoint when they will happen, really busy stressful weeks at work, and I just kind of go with them. Sure I probably gain a pound that week but it gives me a break (because lets face it, its hard work to be healthy) and then I am ready for action and I usually can focus for a few more months really well. I think accepting that we are humans and will have those sabotage days/week helps keep them as treats which makes them easier to get over.

Log_n_Jog

I just recently realized that I self-sabotage, too. I also realized that I don't JUST do it with my diet, but in other things, as well. Anytime I get close to reaching a goal, it's like I freak out and take several steps back. In the recent past, I let it prevent me from reaching my goal weight, which was within 9 lbs, and I gained back 15. I still haven't figured out why I do it, but it's a huge step to recognize it for what it is. I used to have all-or-nothing thinking, so if I made a poor choice for breakfast, the whole day was shot and I was constantly "starting over tomorrow" never to make any progress. One thing that has kept me on track since realizing I self-sabotage is reminding myself that a diet cannot be made or destroyed in a day, but in a series of choices made over a period of time. Right now I'm in a month long plateau, but I keep reminding myself that even though I haven't lost any weight, I haven't gained it back, either.

castelluzzo99

Oh, I can totally relate. When I eat clean, I don't crave anything bad. I can walk down the candy aisle at the pharmacy and not even care about any of it. But sometimes, I'll get these random "I'd like to eat some of that" thoughts. But I know I won't be able to stop myself. So I tell myself it's not an option.

And then again, if I fail, I pick myself up and say, "Well, that was once. It's not going to change the course of my life. Let's get back on track and let the past stay in the past." It really helps to think like that.

That, and reminding myself why I'm doing this!

demilade

Self sabotage was my theme this week. I had to loose 200g to hit 50kg lost. I ate chocolate, cake, Doritos etc all week, now I'm 800g from my goal. Frustrating ur I kew I was doing it. So this week it's not about the numbers, it's about protein and water.