What do you do when you mess up?

pterradactyl
pterradactyl Posts: 35
in Motivation and Support
I've just started up trying to be healthy again, and I'm having kind of a hard time staying on top of things so far and have had a lot of bad eating days just this week. I know that I can do better if I give myself time to get into better habits, but I'm already feeling pretty bad about it. What do you do to keep yourself motivated, especially after you haven't been making the best choices?

Replies

  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
    You may have your calorie goals set too low for a starting point. Would it help to set them a bit higher (but obviously lower than what you had been eating) so you can adjust to the change? Then, in a few weeks, reset it to a still lower goal. It might be more realistic for you to make gradual changes, rather than feeling like you're cutting off everything all at once. Then you won't feel like you're 'messing up' because the calorie goal will be more at a place that works for you now. So you'll feel good knowing that you acheived a new goal. I know it helped me to do it that way.
  • mjrkearney
    mjrkearney Posts: 408 Member
    The other day's pint of full-fat ice cream was a beautiful screw-up. I now accept that I shouldn't have ice cream in the house, aside from the frozen Greek yogurt that's been in there for months. Right now I am 370 calories below my goal for the day, which means I need about 500 to break my BMR, which speaks of a tendency for less beautiful screw-ups.

    What do you do when you mess up? You forget about it and move on. One slip isn't going to ruin everything you do if you just dig in and keep going. If you feel that bad, do an extra 20 push ups or an extra hundred crunches or an extra mile. Burn away the guilt before it can build up.
  • 3nchantress
    3nchantress Posts: 41
    Log them and start over the next day :)
  • drugrug
    drugrug Posts: 50
    Hop back in the band wagon! Tomorrow is another day for better choices
  • JeneticTraining
    JeneticTraining Posts: 663 Member
    I realize what I did wrong and I keep going. I remind myself why I am doing this.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    I do damage control. the last few days of my food diary are excellent examples of this. either workout more. or workout more over the next few days. or shift cals around to accomodate the overage. etc. etc. etc.
  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,633 Member
    NEVER GIVE UP ..... NEVER SURRENDER :laugh:

    Get right back on track at the very next meal or snack ....... and remember, baby steps work, if you can't do big changes .......

    Best of luck to you !
  • 1two3four
    1two3four Posts: 413 Member
    I log it, I forgive myself, I move on and make better choices as soon as possible. If possible I try to burn some of it off but that doesn't always happen in my world.

    If I beat myself up or if I didn't log it or if I let it derail me further I wouldn't get anywhere.
  • smilingirisheyes
    smilingirisheyes Posts: 149 Member
    I forget about the errors, but learn a lesson from them. Someone mentioned a pint of ice cream being both a poor choice and a reminder not to keep it in the house - I don't have ice cream in the house right now only because I learned the same lesson the same way.

    At the end of the day, if you take a look at what worked for you and what didn't, you're better armed to deal with tomorrow. Keep whatever worked, and try to think of something else you could have done instead of what didn't serve you well. It might take a few tries to succeed with some things, but the effort will eventually pay off.
  • anifani4
    anifani4 Posts: 457 Member
    So give yourself time to work out the bugs and get on the program you want. Not sure if you mean you've had too much to eat and exceeded your calorie goal, or have made less than healthy choices in the food you've eaten. Resolve to do better and keep working on it. Personally, I can not "make up for it" by exercising or undereating. I have to make a fresh start no matter what time of day.... make the next meal a healthy one with reasonable portion sizes and move forward from there.
  • ce700
    ce700 Posts: 2
    What do you do when you mess up? NOTHING. KEEP GOING. Bad eating days happen. Just keep logging and learning how to balance your calories. Getting the calories right is a hard task. Don't give up and DO NOT drop off! :) Just continue on!
  • TammyS3
    TammyS3 Posts: 28 Member
    Log them and start over the next day :)



    That's what I was going to say too! Excellent advice!

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