Feel Good - All Year Round
It's that time of year! The time when clients of mine begin feeling apprehensive towards the next few months of dining, drinking and merry making. "I'm definitely going to fall off the wagon!" Wait, what wagon? Healthy eating does not start and stop from one day or season to another. Black and white thinking about indulging during the holidays tends to encourage more overeating.
Real life has room for some days of eating a little more, they tend to be balanced out by days when we eat a little less - this is natural. This natural way of eating gets lost in the mix once we begin trying to diet, cut calories and eat "perfectly". Eventually exhaustion kicks in and we justify "just a small cookie" soon deprivation and guilt opens the flood gates - next the whole bag is gone.
If you expect your experience of improving your lifestyle to be the top line, how will you cope when set back occurs?
What if we focused on feeling good instead? Feel good about enjoying your Grandmother's cooking, or feel good about passing on the store bought cake at the office you are being pressured into. What will make you feel good in that moment? Set yourself up for success by aiming for persistence, not perfection. Let's offer ourselves a little more forgiveness and patience.
