Subscribe5 Emergency Tips to Avert Diet Disaster
Say you've recently resolved to lose weight and eat healthier, and you've been doing a great job. You've been eating the right foods in reasonable portions, and when you have an occasional treat, it's small and it's part of your overall plan.
But then one day your friends drag you to a fast food restaurant, and instead of choosing the grilled chicken salad like you were going to... somehow you end up ordering a double cheeseburger and fries like everyone else. Or you're at home and you find your spouse's stash of Oreos and you're pretty sure you could eat the entire bag...
Is this the beginning of the end of your weight loss resolution?
It doesn't have to be. The worst problem with going "off" a diet or healthy eating plan is not the few extra calories of a single indulgence--it's the sense of failure that can make you feel like giving up entirely. When faced with overwhelming temptation, here are some simple suggestions to keep you on track.
Abort!
We have a natural tendency to want to finish what we've started, even when what we've started is incredibly stupid. If you can "snap out of it," just stop in your tracks. What if you've already ordered the cheeseburger? You could give it to a friend or even throw it away. It might feel weird, but the extra money you spend on the second "right" choice will be worth it for the feeling of accomplishment in sticking to your plans.
Compromise
So let's say you can't make yourself abort, and you really are seriously bent on having that burger or those cookies. Then it's time to abandon the "all or nothing" thinking that makes it seem just as bad to have half a burger as it is to have two of them, or to have four Oreos versus forty.
- Throw part of the cheeseburger or other offending item away. Or share it with someone. Take three or four Oreos and enjoy them but before you do, put the rest of them out in the garage or in the mailbox or somewhere inconvenient.
- Perform food surgery: scrape off sauces and mayo, peel fried skin off chicken, take the white bread or bun off a burger or sandwich, even scrape the filling out of an Oreo. (Though this renders the whole Oreo pointless and is not advised unless you really like the chocolate part best).
Compensate
Another way to regain control is to take what seems to be a screw-up and make it less of a big deal to your overall goals. Walk an extra mile or two; skip the potato you were going to have for dinner and eat more broccoli instead. It will help you feel "back on track" and in control again.
Don't Indulge in Guilt
Guilt feels so miserable it's hard to recognize it as an indulgence, but it is. It plays into perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking. Everyone slips up. Beating yourself up over it can be an unconscious way to get yourself off the hook. "I'm a failure, I got off track, so there's no use trying." Look forward, not back, and take the energy you'd waste on remorse to plan better for next time.
Learn from your slip-ups
Rather than stew about it, ask some questions: What set you off? Were you too hungry? Did you not have enough healthy snacks around? What helped you regain control and how can you remember to do that again next time?
Does anyone else struggle with unplanned temptations? What helps you avoid overindulgence or get yourself back on track when you slip?
Great post. My top tip when this happens: Be Kind To Yourself - It's only a wobble, you will not fall down (like a 'weeble' - You can wobble and not fall down)
ReplyI sure recognize something in your "guilt" comment. I know I've been guilty of this in the past and it has led to some severe binging. It's a good point to remember--especially for someone who has trouble exterminating that pesky sweet tooth (and my dentist can't help either). :-)
Replyi concur with weightlossguru- many times i have found myself in a situation where i want a cookie so bad, i go get some from the store and end up eating like half the bag before i realize how dumb this is no matter if it is one time. i remember then why am i even watching my weight at all? then it dawns on me- ME of course :) so, i slowly back away from the cookies, and toss the rest of them away- way more satisfying knowing that you can start again tomorrow the right way :)
ReplyGreat post. It's important to show that people aren't always going to be perfect. Diet plans that account for that are awesome. :)
ReplyI hate it when I do it, but I do it! Suddenly, I find myself bingeing on an entire box of chocolates or a good size bag of potato chips. The guilt of it really gets to me and I find myself off kilter for a week or two. One thing that has helped is not being so restrictive with what I eat in the first place.
Another thing I am working on is the last suggestion in the post. I am trying to identify what kicked off the binge in the first place. One thing I have noticed is the reason is rarely diet related, but generally some form of stress overload from doing too much at work and at home.
My new year’s resolution is to learn to meditate. I am hoping that will help with the stress and thus reduce the bingeing.
ReplyGood advice, but I think when we deprive ourselves that's when we set ourselves up for problems like this. We have to allow favorite foods into our programs and we have to plan for unexpected situations.
ReplyI've been wobbling all through my 55 pound (so far) loss. I think it's the only way to stay sane and not feel like the whole thing is a "diet" (and therefore a chore). I don't feel deprived at all when I can eat plates of pasta, Taco Bell, pizza or steak every so often.
As long as my overall monthly trend is smaller size, less weight and more strength/flexibility, I don't care much about day-to-day calories. I have a target and generally I stay well under it. Once a week or once every two, I exceed it. No big whoop.
ReplyReally good tips!
Something which works for me when I've just scoffed a ton of chocolate (like I did yesterday afternoon) is to stop, walk away, and decide not to eat anything else for a set period of time, say three or four hours.
No-one's ever forcing food into your mouth...
ReplyI haven't had a major diet crisis in a while, but I do remember one day after I had made a big pan of Rice Krispies treats covered in chocolate. I had planned on eating only one, but then I ate 4. Then I felt like I had pretty much screwed up for the day, so I ate about 1/4 of a carton of Bear Claw ice cream. Then I got sane and said "What are you DOING?? Don't you realize that it took you 7 or 8 months to get this far? And now you want to go and undo all that work?" I immediately put the ice cream back and decided to get back on track immediately. I ran a couple extra miles the next day and cut back a little on my calories for the next few days so I didn't do TOO much damage.
These days, if I ever crave ice cream, my strategy is to get a bowl of it and share it with my husband. This works because my husband inevitably eats about 80% of the bowl and I end up eating only a few delicious bites to make me satisfied.
ReplyI've been dieting pretty strictly for the past couple of months, but over the holidays I indulged in fast food more than a couple of times and was especially naughty on the 2 day long car trip to and from my husband's family's house.
Yet, somehow, over all, I managed to lose a kilogram over the two weeks. I think the fact that on those days I did indulge, I took it easy on the rest of the day's meals, I ate healthy the rest of the time and I went for lots of walks is what made the difference.
Everything in moderation.
ReplyGreat article! I'm just starting to diet, so I'm glad I found this early.
ReplyI've been fighting all of these things for years, and now I'm trying a new approach: "eat healthy for *this* meal (or snack)".
If it's breakfast, I think *only* of breakfast, not ahead to snack, or lunch, or dinner, or tomorrow, or next week. Looking that far ahead, and thinking, "I'm never going to be able to eat ice cream again" sends me straight away from the Grape Nuts and into the bacon.
mmmmm, baconnnnn.....
ANYWAY - so I think only about *this* meal, and eat healthy for *this* meal. Then at the next meal, I have that previous healthy meal to reflect on, and build on.
It's only been about a week, but so far, so good.
ReplyReally great article. I do agree with one of the other readers though that this all or nothing state of mind is much more likely to occur if we are depriving ourselves in the fist place. If you are craving a cookie, go to a nice bakery buy one cookie and enjoy it fully rather than buying the store bought artificial bag and eating the whole thing. I think that often the urge to eat the whole bag of cookies comes from the very idea that it is "bad" to have a cookie in the first place. I "shouldn't" be eating this... being "good" on my eating plan(which lets face it is just another word for diet)means I'm not supposed to eat cookies....But I LOVE cookies and I know I can't have them anymore so....I might as well enjoy ALL of these and then restrict myself again. Basically the deprivation thinking sets you up for the binge reaction. Instead of thinking "can't" have and "bad" think can have and "CHOOSING" not to. I find that much more empowering.
ReplyHow about just ordering what you really want, eating only until you're not hungry anymore, and then putting down your fork? Cheeseburgers aren't evil.
ReplyOne of my biggest problems with weight loss has been when I'm eating healthy for a week or two and then I have a slip-up. The next thing you know I feel guilty and then I go way overboard and end up binging. It's tough to overcome this behavior and break the cycle.
ReplyWhat a great idea Laura :)
This is what I'm doing too of sorts but with the mentality of eat healthy with little refined and processed food and try to eat as much fruit and veggies as I can.
Keeping a food dairy really helps to keep my eating on track.
But when I do slip I have to admit it's not pretty and there is a lot of self loath and hatred which I direct towards myself. I must learn to be kinder to myself and not punish myself when I do have little slip ups. I am human and can't be perfect all the time, as long as I stay on track 90% of the time I will get where I want to be.
ReplyI stick w/ my diet during the week and reward myself on the weekend by allowing myslef to go "off" my diet. I do the Special K diet, 2 meals of special K, then one normal meal, and snacks of yogert, fruit, you know the good stuff. On Saturday and Sunday I allow myslef to eat what ever I want. While I do this I do keep in mind that I am wokring towards goal. If I eat something I just dont eat as much. such as a steak.. I only eat half of a 8oz steak take the reat as a lunch in the week. I find effective when out is to drink a lot of water for every drink I have, as well as food. I will put the pizza on my plate eat one or two peices then i will pile my napkin & and other trash so I cant eat it. Rewarding yourself I think is the key to dieting. Also allowing you to eat the "naughty foods" but in moderation helps to stick to the plan. Happy Dieting!!!
ReplyAmen Susan! Cheesburgers aren't evil and we need to learn to heed our bodies signals!
ReplyThanks for this post. Sounds like really good advice. I just started a new diet and will certainly be faced with temptation before too long. This advice gives so many options that there is really no excuse to make a minor mistake (or misstep) a diet disaster.
ReplyLearning from your diet mishaps is the key. If you aren't doing that, you are never going to accomplish everything you want.
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