Binges, Relapse, and Other Setbacks

I'm taking a course in nutrition teaching/counseling and (aside from it being insightful/interesting) I feel that a lot of people would benefit from the spread of this knowledge. So, I am going to share with you a few gems regarding relapse that I found to be particularly interesting.

It is important to realize that a lot of times people "fail" because they place absolute demands on themselves. This means creating unreasonable demands for yourself and setting extremely rigid goals.
The most important lesson to stress here is to "Give yourself a break!" Setting rigid goals creates black and white thinking. This perpetuates the illusion that there is no gray area, only "good behavior" and "bad behavior." This paints a pretty picture of goals that are strangled by restriction. Restriction is not sustainable and sets you up to "fail."
People often are overcome with a large amount of guilt during a relapse to "bad behavior." They say, "I shouldn't have..." "Now I must..."
But I ask, why all the punishment? Where is the affirmation? Where was the reward for doing well? Why is it that we always attempt to shift our behavior by bestowing consequences upon ourselves? "I ate way too much, so I'm not going to eat at all tomorrow." or "I ate too much. I'll never change. I knew I couldn't do this."

Surely the only way to learn isn't through nutritional penance.

So here I will provide for you some keys to addressing and conquering relapse:

First, let's focus on relapse itself- Relapse is not the end of the world. Do not make a *situation* into a *catastrophe*. Accept that relapse often occurs throughout treatment and maintenance. Accept that you are still learning and that relapse is part of the learning process. Learn to forgive yourself. No one is perfect.

Second, here is a process to walk yourself through when a relapse occurs- (1) stop the behavior early, do not allow continuation (2) stay calm, do not catastrophize it, and accept it as a learning experience (3) reaffirm your vow to change your behavior and remember your goals (4) analyze the situation, why it happened, and rethink the problem (5) take charge and make necessary modifications (6) ask for help and seek support

The main point: Relapse itself isn't the problem, it's the reaction to the relapse. A positive reaction is a must for continued success.

I hope that you will all find this useful and I wish you luck on your journey, recovery, and continuation throughout this process. Remember that you are human and that a mistake is not a failure. God speed!