It happens to each of us at least once on our weight loss journey. We go on vacation and live a little only to come back and step on the scale. When we do, we’ve gained back some weight and are disappointed. Or, you could be an emotional eater who is going through a personal crisis that results in added pounds.
The next step is the most important one. The choice is between struggling to recover and continuing to slide back into old habits. Before the choice is made, we must realize something about ourselves. It’s okay to slip up. Forgive yourself and forget that it ever happened.
Setbacks are a part of weight loss and any kind of goal we set in life. There has yet to be a time when everything in our life went according to plan. If it did happen for you, you need to write a book and let the rest of us off the hook. Assuming that it has not, it is something that we must learn to deal with or it will crush us to dust.
If you wisely choose to struggle and recover, try to discover what caused the setback in the first place. The answer will help you not to repeat the same pattern again. A common cause of setbacks in weight loss is emotional eating. Unfortunately, you don’t find out that you are an emotional eater until you get emotional and begin to eat.
It is not normal eating. Emotional eaters eat to relieve stress. You don’t have to be hungry. The act of eating something that pleases you releases those same “feel good” endorphins as exercise. It’s a cruel joke, I know, but there it is. The trick is to pinpoint emotional eating before you’ve gained too much weight.
Struggling is not pleasant for anyone. As you battle back, your mind may tell you that you messed up. Learn to ignore it by replacing that negative feedback with positive words of encouragement. Accentuate the positive things about yourself. Are you a star on your job? Tell yourself how good you are at what you do. If you have kids, bask in the knowledge that you are a great mom or dad.
Take on a partner. This person can be trying to lose weight also. They will be charged with telling you the truth and not just what you want to hear. You will do the same for them. By pointing out the good attributes of someone else, you will learn to do it for yourself.
Weight loss is a lifelong process. Even when you lose the weight, you must work to maintain that loss and continue to be healthy and fit. Don’t give up so early in the game. Learn to deal with setbacks and get on with working towards your weight loss goals.
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