I failed ... ughhh

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

For me, a ruined Christmas would mean I'd had a rubbish time, avoiding food and festivities, and generally felt miserable because I was restricting myself.

You have not failed.you haven't ruined anything. You did "life". Start again now, keep logging and move on.

Run_Fit wrote: »

You went crazy for a few days, but it doesn't equal failure. You only fail when you quit.

Docbanana2002 wrote: »

You will be more successful if you let go of the all or nothing mentality. I've done all the "all the way failures" that you describe, multiple times, sometimes on repeat, sometimes worse than you describe, and somehow managed to lose 110 pounds and keep it off for over a year now and even run multiple races like a half marathon last spring and a triathlon this summer. Your problem is not that you failed miserably, it is that you have unrealistic expectations about how perfect a real life "successful at being fit" person must be, and it is setting you up to give up in despair. Your husband didn't get skinny by always being perfect and if you get skinny and healthy and fit, you won't get there by perfection either. You will get there by perseverance over the long haul. You'll have days where you are on fire with motivation, and breaking fitness records, and eating to a level of nutritional perfection that would make a dietitian smile, then on other days you will want to sit around on the couch eat a whole cake. That's okay. It happens to all of us mortals. Most days I'm somewhere in between those extremes, not on fire to run a marathon but getting some exercise anyway, not being nutritionally "perfect" but working some treats into a generally healthy diet and living within my calorie budget.

The trick to success not perfection, but consistency. Forgive yourself for being a normal mortal who isn't always on the plan and settle for being generally on track-- ideally on track more hours of the day than not--and you will make gradual progress in the right direction. You'll have occasional setbacks too....and the quicker you dust yourself off and get back in the race, the better. No self defeating thoughts! Just learn what you can learn from the experience and move on with the usual plan (I've learned not to keep whole cakes in my house..... and that my most destructive setbacks often come after periods of extreme deprivation and so It is best to take things slow and steady.)

nutmegoreo wrote: »

TryingToMakeTheRealMe wrote: »

mskimee wrote: »

I gained 5 delicious pounds over Christmas. Oh well, back on it this week. It'll be gone soon enough. We didn't fail, we just enjoyed ourselves as happens in life. I'll do the same next Christmas. And the next. In fact, new years day will probably be a calorie laden disaster. Oh well.

@mskimee very true very true! I think sometimes i just hold myself to so many standards. This is like the only thing i fail at. Taking care of my eating and health. Urghhhhh.

Then stop looking at it as pass/fail, and look at it in shades of grey and a learning experience. What would you say to a friend who is in your exact position? Would you tell them they are a failure? Why do you deserve to be treated with any less respect than that which you would treat a friend? You don't need to answer these questions, but do think about them.