Losing weight is a project. It takes weeks, months, years even. Looking at the big picture is defeating. It’s easy to get wrapped up in one moment when you do something counter to your weight loss goals.
It’s easy to get discouraged because you planned to drink black coffee at the birthday party today while everybody ate pizza. You ate more pizza than anybody else. You planned to drink diet soda while everybody had birthday cake and ice cream. You ate the biggest piece of cake. You ate two big pieces of cake! This giant lapse has you thinking, ” I can’t even manage to be good at one birthday party! How am I going to be good long enough to get to goal?”
This kind of thinking double-deadly. Enjoying the food served at a birthday party doesn’t make you bad. Depriving yourself of refreshments at a party doesn’t make you good. Comparing one unplanned indulgence to all future behaviors is self-defeating. Leave the past in the past and get on with your fat-fighting future!
Unplanned indulgences aren’t signs of weakness, they’re opportunities to learn. In the case of the birthday party, the lesson was labeling yourself “good” and “bad” based on what you eat is unproductive. You are not good by depriving yourself from enjoying some of what you want to eat and a party. You are not bad if you have some of what you want. Thinking you’re bad, however, sets you up for more unplanned indulging and more negative feelings about yourself. You could have been managed the party and some treats with flexible restraint, but instead “good and bad” labels turned it into a huge, regrettable, confidence-killing, overeating episode!
Friday is the start of the weekend. Weekends derail a lot of fat-fighting intentions. Forget about the weekend. Focus on fighting fat just for one day. Breaking down your battles day-by-day or even meal-by-meal is far more manageable. So we will deal with Saturday when it gets here. Right now it’s Friday. All we have to do is get through today.
Fat fighting doesn’t just happen. It takes a plan and a good plan takes into account the challenges you’re likely to face. Make a blueprint starting with your desired outcome. Nobody starts drawing a blueprint to build a house without first defining what the house should look like!
Here is a suggestion for your desired outcome. “When I lie down to go to sleep on Friday night I want to feel good about the day. I want to enjoy food and drink within the limits of my food plan. I want to take 10,000 steps (or the equivalent in an alternate activity such as dancing or bowling, or playing a game of hoops)!
Now it’s time to consider what might stop this outcome from fruition. What plans do I make to handle lunch, snacking, dinner and drinks? How do I ensure I get my 10,000 steps (or the equivalent thereof)?
Once the blueprint is complete spend some time seeing yourself engaged in your plans from start to finish. Experience the feeling of power and control you’ll get by putting those plans into action just the way you envision them.
Have a backup plan in case things seem to be going in a direction that doesn’t support your plan. Be prepared for whatever storm comes your way with your anchor. Drop your anchor to “ride out the storm without getting blown off course or in some cases too far off course.”
Stay focused and stay positive and have a great Friday!
