Dieting is rarely easy. It’s often said that if losing weight were simple, everyone who wanted to be thin would be. It’s normal to make mistakes on your diet. Sometimes you make so many mistakes that you sit down and realize you’ve completely blown your diet. If this is where you are right now, here are some dos and don’ts for picking yourself up and getting back on the right track.
Definitely Don’t
Definitely don’t berate yourself.
If you begin to figuratively beat yourself up over blowing your diet, stop right away. Look at yourself in a mirror and tell yourself, “It’s okay.” Mistakes happen all the time. Blowing your diet isn’t the end of the world or the end of your diet. It’s just a small hiccup you can overcome.
When I blew my diet before I successfully lost weight, I rarely forgave myself and never told myself it was all going to be okay. Instead, I wrung my hands, bemoaned the fact I was never going to lose weight, and sat down for another cookie.
Definitely Do
Definitely do practice positively affirming yourself.
Reaffirm yourself and your desire to lose weight. When I blew my diet during my final weight loss attempt, I wrote down what I hoped to accomplish after I lost weight and how I envisioned myself looking and feeling. Although thinking positively about yourself won’t make you drop pounds, it can keep you going after you temporarily blow your diet.
Definitely Don’t
Definitely don’t binge.
Binge eating is when you eat a large amount of food in a short time. The Mayo Clinic indicates that frequent binge eating is a disorder that should be addressed with a medical professional.
It is possible to occasionally binge eat in the absence of a disorder. That was me.
If you binge after blowing your diet, you will only make yourself feel worse than you already do. Plus, you will consume a lot of unnecessary calories that will further slow your weight loss efforts.
Definitely Do
Definitely do figure out what happened.
Assess your diet strategy and figure out why you are having trouble sticking to your plan. Perhaps you blew your diet because of one of these reasons:
- Your food choices were too restrictive.
- The diet was difficult to monitor.
- It cost too much money.
- Your family was not supportive.
- You failed to address your emotional attachment to food.
- Holidays and social events continually trip you up.
- You did not have a definite plan to lose weight in the first place.
Once you’ve narrowed down why you are struggling, spend some time fixing the problem. For example, if you don’t have a definite plan on how to lose weight, check out the ChooseMyPlate government website, MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, or another reputable weight loss program.
Definitely Don’t
Definitely don’t put off restarting your diet.
Don’t make the mistake I often did and put off restarting your weight loss plan. Sometimes if you put it off, you never get restarted. I know it can be discouraging to start over when you have slipped up, but it’s the only way to get to where you want to be.
Definitely Do
Definitely do hold yourself accountable.
If you’ve struggled with sticking to your diet, find a way to be accountable to someone as you restart. There are many options out there—some are free such as MyFitness Pal, TOPS, and Sparkpeople. Others cost money like Jenny Craig, personalized weight loss counseling, and Weight Watchers.
Once you settle on a way to stay accountable, commit to checking in on a regular basis. One of the best ways to stay committed to your diet is to share your successes and challenges with other people.