I have basically been living with a bully in my head for sixteen years who just beat me with a rolling pin whenever I ate too many calories in a day, had a few snaccidents, or did not lose any fat. Because the things I have just mentioned are things which happen often, I usually suffered a daily beatdown.
What is a Snaccident?
It is when you eat something accidentally when walking past food, while cooking, at a party, etc. It is what my husband calls me out on when he sees me snacking while cooking or busy dishing up. You have no idea how many times I have heard him ask: “Are you snaccidenting?”
I told myself that as long as I keep it healthy, I do not have to feel guilty. Snaccidents happen. But we can work around them, so they do not affect our health negatively.
I still live a healthy lifestyle regardless of my impulses, and I have managed to lose quite a lot of fat while overeating fairly often. I guess perfection wasn’t necessary at all.
Know that you are enough and that you do not need to be perfect on your health journey in order to see results. You have to be kind to yourself on your journey to becoming a better and healthier you.
You’re not always going to be perfect.
Remember: You Can Always Fix It if You Cheat on Your Diet
There is no binge or cheat meal so bad that you cannot bounce back from it. Sure, it might take a few days or weeks for your body to get everything out of your system and to return to normal, but it truly is not the end of the world, and it is not worth hating yourself over.
Why the obsession with eating perfectly? Yes, aim to eat as healthily as possible, but if you do give in to your impulses, do not let the bully inside your head send you on a hectic guilt trip or make you feel like a criminal. You already know that it took you slightly further away from your goals, but the thing to remember about taking a step back is that you can take a few steps forward again. Just ensure that you take more steps forward than you do back.
If you trip over a doughnut and fall into dietary chaos, you can just start over immediately and then do a few things that will improve your health in some way to help you feel more confident about the fact that you at least did something for the sake of your health and wellbeing, even if it is just going for a walk or drinking more water.
What Could You Learn from Your Mistakes?
A good practice is to see what positive things came from you not being perfect and slipping up, and to see what you could learn from your mistakes. Yes, it took me sixteen years to finally get to where I am now, but I am grateful that it took me this long because it forced me to learn a lot about health and the psychology behind eating. I learned so much that I was able to become a health writer. Who knows what would have happened if I had lost the fat that I wanted to at 10 years old already?
I wouldn’t have gained nearly as much knowledge as I did while failing. Knowing how I have benefited from past mistakes helps me be kinder to myself when I have a snaccident.
Do you need to be kinder to yourself when you do make mistakes? Have your cookies with a side of self-compassion.
