Guest Post by Scott Milford of Quitting Sugar, a great moderator in our Low Carb Challenge. Enjoy! ๐
Stop what youโre doing. Letโs take five.
Itโs time for a little pep-talk here. It breaks my heart to see so many frustrated people beat themselves up for โcheatingโ on their diets, or falling off the wagon completely. They feel like they have no willpower and like they have failedโฆ again and again.
It doesnโt need to be that way.
Sometimes you just need someone to hold your hand and make it okay; make it alright for you to not be so hard on yourself. So Iโd like to help you with that.
Why? Because Iโve been there. And now Iโm seeing so many other people doing the same thing.
How can you stop beating yourself up, and feeling like a failure?
When you make a choice, you also receive the consequences of those choices. Perhaps in the moment, you made your choice out of weakness, perhaps it was intentional. But none of that matters when the choice is being made. Itโs one choice out of many that youโll face in your life; one out of many in a single day.
No one individual choice in your life is so important that you need to beat yourself up endlessly for making it. This only makes you feel bad about yourself. And the version of you that Iโm seeing doesnโt deserve that. Itโs simply not who you really are.
Later, when the emotional turmoil that resulted from the guilt you put yourself through for making that choice has ended and youโre feeling calmer, review your choice. Thatโs the time to figure out how you feel about it. Do you wish you would have made a different choice? If not, then all is well. If so, then this is the time for you to analyze what conditions exist that led you to make that choice in the first place.
Next time youโre going to be in that situation you can plan ahead, knowing you might face a situation that may challenge your resolve. Put steps in place that will boost you up, make you feel stronger and more determined, and that help you make the choice that you would prefer to make.
For example, letโs say youโre heading to a bridal shower and you know thereโs going to be alcohol and plenty of high-carb foods. For a few days leading up to the shower, you might carry around an affirmation with you. And several times each day, youโll read it:
โI am stronger than any food or drink. I will NOT drink alcohol or eat high-carb foods today! Instead, I will be an example of a strong and disciplined person. I will make healthy choices because I am worth it.โ
We all slip once in a while and make choices we regret.
Butโฆ and hereโs where the magic comes inโฆ donโt feel bad about your choices!! Seriously, donโt. Why? Because nobody is perfect. Until youโve practiced facing your diet weaknesses and are finally strong enough to not succumb to them, then know that youโre a work-in-progress. Know that your way of eating is a work-in-progress, and that your life is a work-in-progress as well.
Every experience unfolds and you absorb each lesson. You learn from the choices you make and learn how to make different ones. Over time, the outcomes begin to match the vision you have of yourselfโฆ the vision of the real you.
Own each choice you make, and have fun with every step. Thereโs no need to hurt yourself for not being perfect. Instead, love yourself for being imperfectโฆ just like everybody else.
Deep down inside, the you that is patiently waiting to come out is beautiful, strong, confident, and happy. Strive to be the true you that you know you really are.
โ Scott Milford, QuittingSugar.com
* Thank you, Scott! Great motivation and inspiration, and some nice words of wisdom from someone whoโs โbeen there done thatโ! If youโd like to connect with Scott on Facebook, click here and Like his page. ๐
Lynn, we are desperate people. We had bought some groceries that fit low carb at payday, the 3rd Wed in July, but when checking our bank acct found we had been ripped off $120.00. I had made the mistake of ordering 2 facial products, trial size $2.99, from the internet. Flawless Elite and Diamond Luxe Serum, both for wrinkles with glowingbefore and after pictures. Less than two weeks later, both deducted $59.99 from our acct. I tried all avenues, even calling their Customer Service dept at an +44 number overseas to cancel their access to our acct. They havenโt even sent me the product they billed us for so I can send it back and hopefully get our money back. As it is, we have eaten all our veggies and are relying on meat, fish, chicken, rice, noodles, homemade onion soup, homemade flat bread, to get to Aug1st. We are drinking a lot of water, iced tea, decaf coffee and I have lost 4.5#, but I feel like I am cheating because we werenโt able to complete our low carb high fat shopping. We are eating just meat, chicken and fish, plus eggs and small helpings of noodles and rice, to get by. I amashamed of myself for getting us in this situation and cheating on the diet.
Hi Rebecca,
Call your bank and do a stop payment. See if you can get the charges reversed also. My account has protection, and they can deal with it faster than you can. Thatโs the first step. ๐
Shame is a tough emotion. Just let it go. Things do happen โ we all go through stuff, whether itโs intentional or not. Take a deep breath, because your attitude and well-being is just as big a part of your overall health as what you eat! *cheers*
well hello Lynn
Having now begun to settle into a routine, your post makes me feel a lot better about the last 7 days! I moved to a new position in a new country where all food is being delivered via a buffet thus for the first few days it was party time, multiple courses and cake with every meal!
Thankfully I have now returned to eating wiser and the high sugar elements are no longer part of the routine, as you point out once we start to eat consciously and accept that regardless of what the low carb rules may say, in real life we need to adapt to our own unique situations and enjoy the journey we are on.
igor