Dr. Larocque has a great saying and we use it all the time in the clinic.” You can slip but don’t quit.”
He is always reminding us that the greatest quality we possess during our weight loss journey is our perseverance!
Perhaps you have had a tough week full of temptation and maybe you have over indulged? Well now is the time to draw a line in the sand and tell yourself it’s ok, what’s done is done.
I cannot change the past but I can learn from it.
Remember your weight loss is a journey not a one-time event.
How people view their lapses seems to make the biggest difference in how quickly they get back on track. People who recover quickly (from a lapse in eating) are people who don’t think one mistake is a total failure. They don’t turn in on themselves. They look at the situation that caused it instead.
There are more than just a few of us who have ‘lapsed’ on our eating plan from time to time. What we need to do now is have a strategy for recovery to get back on track.
The main thing is to analyse what has happened rather than criticise yourself for short-lived lapses in exercise or eating behaviours. By identifying the events that triggered the lapse, you not only learn about what caused the lapse, but you quickly realise that its not a character flaw that lead to it. It’s likely that it’s a situation or emotion that, at that time, was not preventable. YOU DO NOT SUFFER A CHARACTER FLAW! It was probably external events that caused the slip.
Next, it’s important to develop a strategy for ‘recovery’. Talk to yourself. If we can believe the equation that weight gain is a problem of calories in, calories out, then what do you need to do?
Is it more exercise?
Or, is it simply that you have been eating too much, and have to slash portions for a while.
Don’t tell yourself that you lack ‘self- control’. This statement has no meaning. You just have to set up a series of behaviours or habits that will turn things around.
Make it simple.
Have a smaller meal this evening, and then no or minimal evening snacks. Do this three days in a row and you will realise how quickly you can get back on track.
Schedule a longer than normal exercise session this weekend; this will also motivate you. Rewrite your goals, or review them again. Remember what you accomplished when you first started, and go back to basics.
Above all, please don’t criticise yourself. Just develop a strategy NOW to get back on track. Remember, you can slip but don’t quit.
