Getting out of the guilt spiral
You’ve had an emotional day and indulge in some chocolate to help you feel better, eating quickly to hide the evidence.
You feel guilty about it, beat yourself up and speak about yourself in a negative way.
You swear that you’ll start the diet again on Monday and aim to “be good” – which lasts for one week until a spanner is thrown in the works and the cycle repeats itself, yet again.
Sound familiar? Many of us have been there. This cycle is known as “yo-yo dieting”.
Getting out of such a cycle isn’t easy – not to mention that each and every person comes from a different environment and has different experiences when it comes to their relationship with food/eating.
However, I’d like to recommend three methods to help you start your journey out of the yo-yo dieting trap.
1. Meet with a dietitian who specialises in the area of learning to eat moderately and sustainably
Not all dietitians are created equal – we each have our own areas of interest and expertise.
A dietitian who specialises in managing people with history of yo-yo dieting will be able to help you create systems to combat the problem. This may be using methods such as meal planning, or it may involve working alongside a psychologist if the impulsive feelings around eating are more deep-rooted.
As you may have guessed, this is one of my areas of expertise! I’ve worked with hundreds of people who relate to the above situation and can show you HOW you can eat normally again and WHERE you can start. You can make an appointment with me here.
2. Don’t aim for perfection
If you try to eat perfectly all the time, you’re just going to set yourself up to fail. And as often happens, when you fail you beat yourself up and do it all over again.
Accept that eating things in moderation is OK. Did you have a packet of chips after your boss gave you a hard time? Don’t worry about it! It’s a packet of chips. But don’t let that be a gateway to give up on your hard work and go “all in” – have that packet of chips, enjoy them and move on.
3. Increase awareness of your eating habits
Without judgement of your emotions and eating habits, keep a journal. What did you eat that day? How did you feel? Had anything particular happened on the days where you felt guilty about what you’d eaten?
When I get clients to do this they are nearly always surprised when a pattern reveals itself rather quickly. Suddenly, it’s clear what their “triggers” are when it comes to negative eating behaviours – and from there we can work on how to respond to those triggers differently.
If you have successfully overcome yo-yo dieting through other means, I’d love to hear them!
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