Paleo Challenge – Slipping up

Confession time – I fell off the wagon for a minute.  I know I’m not alone.  Here’s a graphic showing the most common reasons why we fall off the healthy eating wagon:

I can relate to all of these reasons!  About a week and a half ago we did some Christmas baking while my sister and nephew were here visiting, and I didn’t even so much as lick my fingers so I was feeling pretty proud of myself…….

And then last Thursday I had a really crap day.  It was a rough day for work, and then the transmission on our van blew out right as both kids needed to be in different places for after school activities.  Thankfully we have some great friends and family that helped us get everyone where they needed to be, but it’s going to be an expensive fix and is pretty much the worst possible timing with Christmas right around the corner.

When we finally got everyone home and the chaos was settled I opened the fridge, and that bag of Christmas treats was staring me right in the face.  I ended up eating 3 pieces.  I thoroughly enjoyed this once-a-year treat and 3 pieces in an entire holiday season is really pretty good.  But – It’s still not part of my plan, and I was still a little disappointed in myself.  I know for a lot of people restricting something from your diet means all you want to do is eat that thing, but for me it’s easier to just say I am choosing not to eat something, period.  If I allow a little bit a little “cheat” turns into a daily thing.

So – How do you keep the one cheat from becoming many?  For me it’s about going straight back to my plan.  Whether you messed up big time and ate half a cheesecake or just had a couple of bites of something, all you really have to do is keep going.  Start with your next meal.  If you messed up at breakfast and ate a plate of french toast with a side of cinnamon rolls, make better choices at lunch and dinner.  If it was dessert that messed you up, start again the next morning with a healthy breakfast.  The longer you wait to get back on track the harder it is.

My only other piece of advice is to not beat yourself up about it – your food choices don’t equal your self-worth.  All we can all do is keep working on improving ourselves in all aspects of our lives, and degrading yourself never makes anything better.  Just move forward and be kind to yourself!

Next week I’ll post about how I’m staying on track at Holiday parties.  Have a great week!