Will Strathdee

Progress does not require perfection. One bad day of eating doesn’t ruin all of your progress. The real issue arises when we turn one instance into a ‘snowball’ of negative choices that eventually derails progress, or worse, forms bad habits.

How do you know if you’re snowballing?

You might be snowballing if:

• You are using one choice to validate another.
• Your habit changes are defined by a timeline (I’ll start tomorrow, Monday…)
• You tell yourself “If I’m having one I may as well have another, and another, and another”
• You view your diet as all or a nothing.

These probably all sound pretty familiar. That’s okay, these are all incredibly common thoughts that at some point can sabotage most people’s diet and mindset. So, what can you do about it?

Look at an Event in Context

On paper, a few colds beers on a Friday night doesn’t hurt anyone, but what happens from there? If you know that after you get a little buzz, you’re prone to tossing back a few more than you planned for, which then might turn into a quick slice of pizza, followed by hangover brunch, then it might be important to keep on the safe side of sober. By taking a step back, looking at past events, and seeing if there is a distinct ‘ripple behaviour’ after you make one choice, you can prevent things from getting blown out of proportion in the future.

One and Done

Dieting, especially if your goals are achieved over a longer timeline, can feel endless. It can be easy to get caught up with the idea that since we have so far to go, delaying progress a little bit isn’t the end of the world. We’ve all had those days we feel we need a break and end up eating something that might not be in line with our goals. Cue the thought process of the snowball effect: since we’ve already messed up, we can just start fresh tomorrow, on Monday, or maybe after we get back from vacation. While we don’t need to dwell on one slip up, every choice we make is an opportunity to get closer or further from our goals.

Focus on the Now

If you have an off day, beating yourself up won’t solve the problem. This isn’t a pass or fail test. People who measure their diet success by perfection are more likely to feel increased stress about their food choices and are more likely to experience burn out. If we have an off day, or meal, treat it as such. The easier we can move on from choices that don’t support us and learn from them, the better off we’ll be. Don’t let a negative mental aftershock keep you from getting back on track because you feel you’re never going to be able to do this or feel like you lack self-discipline. Focus on what you have in your control (the present) and use that to your advantage!