Those of us who have decided to change our eating habits, whether to lose a few pounds or to change to a healthier lifestyle have all had one of
those moments. A moment where "just a little taste" turns into a full blown eating frenzy. A binge.
It could have been a family dinner and Mom's lasagna. Perhaps an absolute "need" for some cheesecake or maybe just a momentary lapse in desire to follow through with the plan. No matter the cause, it happened. And now you feel miserable. There's also a good chance you are ready to give up.
The first and decidedly most important step after a binge is to change your mental outlook. Disappointment, discouragement, remorse, a feeling of failure are all emotions that pummel your brain. Change those emotions by acknowledging you slipped on the walkway of dieting, but you are now in the process of getting up.
Second, after the pep talk, decide to continue. It is far too easy to give up at this point but fight that urge. You made the decision to change your eating habits for very good reasons. Review them now. Whether your goal is a smaller dress size, a healthier body or a combination of both, they were valid before the binge and they remain valid now.
Next, determine a time when you will begin over. In the next minute? At midnight? First thing in the morning? Immediately decide on a definite re-start time, not a vague "sometime soon."
Once you've set the time to begin again. Begin. You are starting new so there is no reason to look back in shame. Move forward.
While moving toward your weight loss goals it is helpful to find ways to help avoid a future binge. First, caution should be taken to not expect more of yourself than is reasonable. Allow yourself to start slowly and simply. A good start is to cut back the amount of food you put on your plate- half is a good place to start. You could be surprised by how little it takes to fill you up. Or maybe no potatoes if you have a biscuit? Decide how you want to cut back, then do it.
Second, avoid feeling deprived. At your daughter's wedding, for example, don't skip out on the cake feeling like you're missing out on part of the celebration. Indulge yourself with a small piece of wedding cake. You've handled two attacks on your diet - you don't feel deprived and you haven't let the eating run amok because of circumstances.
Allowing for treats is also important to your success. The treats need to be within the boundaries of your chosen diet and must be handled as something special and not used as an excuse to eat. The point to including something special is to avoid the feeling of being deprived which can lead to giving in to food and giving up on a successful and healthy eating lifestyle.
Change comes slowly. Small and continuous changes in diet will be more effective in the long run than trying to make one big change all at once thus helping us to avoid binging and, should we slip up, help us get right back on the right track.