Imagine moving through a dark room and accidentally walking into a wall.
Maybe it’s the middle of the night and you’re half-asleep.
I would imagine that “thump” of your face hitting the wall could bring out various responses ::
- Cursing
- Tears
- A giggle for the silliness of it all
- Or maybe even momentary stillness as you try to comprehend what happened
The one response I would absolutely NOT expect would be for you to pull back your face and deliberately bang it into the wall again. And again. And again.
Seriously. Who does that?
You’d be surprised.
Thousands of us do this on a weekly basis. Okay, not this exactly, but something very similar.
Maybe even you!
It goes something like this…
Monday begins with a new eating plan and dreams of losing weight – permanently this time. By Wednesday something happens to “derail” the plan. In other words – hitting a wall. (I’ve actually heard several women use that exact term.)
Now here’s where it gets interesting. Yes – something was consumed that didn’t fit the new plan. So what? Sure, it may be a setback, but nothing more.
However, instead of just moving forward, many women stay stuck there, undoing all the work they’ve already done. They are essentially banging their head against the wall. You can hear it in their words ::
- I’ve already screwed up for the day, so I might as well eat that bag of XYZ.
- I guess I’ll start again next Monday, but this week’s done.
- I fell off the wagon today. Let’s just go out to dinner – I’m ordering all my favorites!
- Since I messed up already, I’m having dessert.
In addition to feeling defeated and eating foods that don’t honor long-term goals, during this time there’s usually a lot of internal dialogue too. It includes big doses of self-directed anger and self-talk that sounds more like bullying than anything else.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Just like if you literally ran into a wall – it can end right then and there.
Pause.
Regroup.
No judgement. No negative self-talk.
Perhaps make a note to yourself about how you might avoid this misstep in the future.
Or if you’re tired of doing it on your own, choose to get help and finally get to the roots of overeating while developing a way of eating that’s not so limited and actually has JOY eating built in.
Then move forward. Right now. Not next week. Not next month. Now!
You don’t have to keep banging your head against the wall.
You DO have a choice.
XO
Piper
