17 Days down now 💪 Hope you’re feeling fantastic!
This quote was sent to me by a fellow challenger the other day;
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
― L.M. Montgomery
And it got me thinking, we are so hard on ourselves when we make mistakes.
We are harder on ourselves than we would ever be on someone else for making the same mistake.
While there are plenty of people who aren’t too hard on themselves, a lot of us are.
Especially when it comes to making healthy choices and building healthy habits.
I wrote a little bit in yesterday’s email about making mistakes and learning from them.
But it’s such a huge hurdle for many people that it deserves it’s own email.
So below are my tips for ‘getting back on track’.
Save this email somewhere, for the time when you feel like it’s all over.
When it feels like it’s not worth continuing, or you may as well chuck in the towel and give up.
When it’s gone so wrong you think there’s no coming back from it or you’ll be starting from scratch.
Because there is ALWAYS a reason to continue.
Getting Back on Track Tip 1.
Accept your mistake with loving kindness and compassion. I’ve mentioned in an earlier email about talking to yourself like a loved one. Give yourself the acceptance and compassion you would your best friend or spouse if they were in your position. Tell yourself it’s ok, that we all make mistakes. That it doesn’t make you a bad person and does not mean you are not capable of making good choices for yourself.
Getting Back on Track Tip 2.
Now that you are being kind and accepting of your mistake, avoid the temptation to think ‘well F**K it’, may as well eat crap for the rest of the day.. weekend.. week… month. It happens so quickly, it’s our brain tricking us into thinking we WANT to eat carbs again but we don’t. The very next thing you eat is your decision to move on from your mistake. Don’t let one mistake control you.
Getting Back on Track Tip 3.
We often say that mistakes are learning opportunities, which is true. But the learning doesn’t just happen by magic. It takes reflection and action. So, take a moment to reflect on what lead to the mistake without blame or judgement. Just observe. What were you feeling? Where were you? Who were you with?
Then, once you know how it happened, what are you going to learn from it and do differently? Will you avoid those situations? Just accept that they will happen sometimes? Have more meals prepared? Have more snacks on hand for desperate times?
Getting Back on Track Tip 4.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nobody became unhealthy overnight. Just like you will not become healthy by eating 1 salad, you will not become UNHEALTHY by eating one bad meal. Patience with ourselves, our bodies and the healing and health journey we are on is central to being kind to ourselves. We are all just humans. We make mistakes and that’s ok, but being patient with the journey and knowing that one bad decision won’t undo weeks or months or years of good work will untie our mistakes from guilt.
Getting Back on Track Tip 5.
There are physical and practical things you can do to get back on track as well. If you’ve eaten a higher carb meal, don’t fret, even if you know you’ve been knocked out of ketosis. It’s not that hard to get back in. The temptation may be there to continue eating carbs (because you’ve awoken the carb beast in your brain!!),but let it get back to sleep by focusing on very low carb meals for the next few. Simple things like steak, salmon or chicken and salad, bacon and eggs and omelettes are all great options. Exercise, water and sleep will also help you feeling tip top shape in no time. Fasting can get you there as well – as long as you feel comfortable that you are fasting NOT to punish yourself, or allow yourself carb splurges in the future, but to help your body heal. They are very different.
I hope these tips provide some guidance on the tough days, because they will happen.
Our lives are messy and complex and that’s what makes them wonderful, but having some coping mechanisms in place when the storm hits will make us all a bit safer
Love
Rachel xx
