How to defeat the “I blew it, might as well eat everything” mindset

[Anonymous]

When I make a small mistake (ex. overeating a little), it’s like a siren goes off in my head and I hear “you’ve ruined this day! Just eat everything and start over tomorrow!” How do you defeat this terrible logic in the moment?

[Anonymous]

Drink a glass of mineral water, then brush your teeth. Not just when you "blow it," but every night. That's your signal: I'm done, no more for the day, shut it down.

[Anonymous]

I remind myself that an overall calorie average is what matters and I’d rather go over my calories by whatever I blew it with, say 500 or even 1000 cals, than double that. It’s all about looking at the big picture.

[Anonymous]

I remind myself that an overall calorie average is what matters and I’d rather go over my calories by whatever I blew it with, say 500 or even 1000 cals, than double that. It’s all about looking at the big picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drink a glass of mineral water, then brush your teeth. Not just when you "blow it," but every night. That's your signal: I'm done, no more for the day, shut it down.

Good advice -- I did that unconsciously when I was a smoker. After brushing my teeth at night, I wouldn't eat or smoke.

[Anonymous]

You mention that overeating a little is a mistake, but what is the goal for the day? My guess is you need to reframe your goal and your definition of success.

[Anonymous]

I think that’s why WW has weekly points—you can go over for the day without feeling like you’ve blown it because you have this (limited) weekly cushion.

[Anonymous]

Remember, you only really blow it if you completely give up. No matter how much you screw up in a day you can always get back on track. Stop with the all or nothing approach. What matters most is long term consistency.

[Anonymous]

I tell myself that blowing it and getting back on the horse is as important if not more important than getting on the horse in the first place. Failing and picking yourself up again is the real skill all of us need, and its the thing skinny people do well.

[Anonymous]

I did this yesterday, Op. I had a pretty good day diet wise and then, for whatever reason, decided to scarf down 6 or 7 mini candy bars. I'm doing Keto so I not only blew my calorie allowance for the day but I also kicked myself out of ketosis - yay me!

It happened. And like others have mentioned now it's just a matter of damage control. If you kick your car and make a dent in the side, the solution is not to kick the car 20 more times and make even more dents. One dent can be pounded out but 20 would require a lot more effort to fix.

[Anonymous]

I went out for brunch yesterday and blew it. Decided to still log it all on MFP and discovered I had eaten 950 calories —so I upped my total to 1500 and stayed within it the rest of the day. This was the first time I just didn’t continue to blow it. So maybe try to log it in anyway and see what you can do to get under some kind of control going forward.

[Anonymous]

I always tell myself that I am one meal away from success. Accept that you made some choices you’re not happy with for that meal, finish it and then move on to the next meal. Don’t start over the next day. Start over the next meal.

[Anonymous]

You get to decide what to think about anything.

[Anonymous]

I've been following the keto diet for the past few weeks, and I think eating additional fats (avocado, cheese, butter, olive oil, etc.) has really helped me curb my addition to sugar. When I eat sugar and carbs like bread it spikes my blood sugar and then a few hours later I'm so hungry I feel like I would eat my arm if I don't get food in me immediately. I rush home and binge on everything I can get my hands on. Since following keto, I don't have those blood sugar spikes and crashes and I don't feel the need to binge. Just sharing it as a suggestion for those of us who struggle to stop eating when we eat sugar. Its not something you can control when it impacts your blood sugar so dramatically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always tell myself that I am one meal away from success. Accept that you made some choices you’re not happy with for that meal, finish it and then move on to the next meal. Don’t start over the next day. Start over the next meal.

This. Throwing away the whole day is just a cop-out. Take responsibility.