There's no right or wrong way to
eat. Healthy eating is all about motivation, balance, and
flexibility. There will be times when you eat a high-fat meal or
eat beyond fullness, or when your schedule gets so busy that you
miss a work-out. This happens. It's normal. But it's very
important that you don't get down on yourself and abandon
your new healthy lifestyle when this happens.
If you're like most people, your
reaction to these diet/fitness obstacles is guilt. You feel as if
all your hard work has been for nothing. "I blew it; I was doing
so well. Oh well, I might as well enjoy this weekend and start
over on Monday." Or even worse: "I just don't have the motivation
or will power to start over and be successful. I quit." Feeling
defeated, many people discontinue the healthy living and return to
their old routine until some mythical time in the future: "Maybe
this spring will be a better time to start over again." This kind
of scenario is a perfect example of the diet mentality at work.
An all-or-nothing attitude is
why so many people have so little success; we choose structured
programs because they relieve us from making choices for
ourselves. A properly designed program makes sense, but expecting
to stick to a structured eating and exercise plan for an extended
period of time without ever deviating makes no sense at all. In
fact, this is so unrealistic as to be a set-up for failure. If you
begin to change your habits with the assumption that any deviation
from your plan will ruin it, you might as well not even begin.
Life is full of unplanned obstacles, distractions, and
temptations. Your best approach is to prepare for them, keeping an
open mind and maintaining a positive attitude.
It's very important that you
begin your healthier lifestyle with an understanding that there
will be days when you will stray from healthy eating and
exercising. Before you begin, tell yourself that no matter what
happens, rather than abandoning your new lifestyle, you'll resume
your healthy habits as soon as you can; it is equally important
that you feel confident, not guilty, about doing so. Whatever the
temptation or obstacle is, keep in mind that it's not wrong or bad
to eat fattening foods once in a while or to miss a workout. Just
remember to resume your healthy lifestyle. If you keep moving
forward and you don't let guilt and discouragement stop your
program all together, you'll eventually have improved eating
and exercise habits.
