Off track - what do you do?

I tend to look at my diet as a whole rather than dwelling on "bad" food choices.

This morning I had a couple boiled eggs and some oats for breakfast...lunch was a big garden salad with salmon. Tonight I'm taking my boys out for pizza...I don't think it will have any negative implications to my diet at large.

Well, how "bad" is "bad"?

I ask because very often there's a huge black and white thinking trap people get into. Food is labelled either "good" or "bad" rather than seeing it as a series of fitting calories (and macros) into a framework. Or that you have to eat a healthy food you HATE rather than a healthy food you LOVE because...well because suffering makes you lose more weight or something... But that kind of thinking is really inflexible and annoying and feels awful because you are eating stuff you don't want to.

And really I haven't had to give up ANYTHING. OK, I haven't had a bagel in months because it just doesn't fit in my plan as well as...say...a nice egg wrap with bacon (YES BACON!) on a high protein torilla. I could have a bagel as long as it I re-arrange my general calorie plan for the rest of the day or I do a decent Zumba workout.

katiehepp1 wrote: »

If you feel you are going off track/making bad food choices even tho in your head you know you should eat that. What do you do?

Your choices are your choices, nobody else's. Don't allow yourself to sabotage your journey. Call somebody before you make your choices, to talk you out of them. Pretend your mom's telling you "DON'T DO THAT!!!"

Don't let the "devil make you do it."

If you exceed your limits one day, get over it, start over tomorrow.

Don't "start tomorrow", start now. Your calories are a budget, you eat within your budget or you are essentially buying on credit (meaning you still have to pay for it eventually). Only you can choose from day today to eat over or under your budget. It is sometimes easier starting out or getting back to normal after holidays to avoid all triggery foods. This isn't a long-term strategy though. Most people will feel unhappy trying to never eat what they consider "bad foods" and then they stop trying at all. For me, the idea "I can never have x again" is the surest way to have me go eat it. You can eat "junk" sometimes, but try to get a high proportion of your calories from food with high nutrient density. Much of my difficulty eating well goes away if I aim for getting more fruits and vegetables. You CAN do this - but don't set yourself up for failure by expecting perfection, it won't happen, you are human. Just do your best and keep doing it until you succeed.

katiehepp1 wrote: »

If you feel you are going off track/making bad food choices even tho in your head you know you should eat that. What do you do?

Fix it. Get back on track. Most importantly, don't dwell on it. You just gotta keep on keepin on! It's easier said than done, but that's really all there is to it. You have to choose to succeed. You have to choose to win. You have to choose to fix it and make it right.