Being in control of your mindset at all times is possible. Getting back on the horse after a carb binge is always in your mind. Stay strong! You got this! So, how do you get back up when you fall off?
Have your bad days, and recover from them too.
It is essential to have a positive outlook when you start a new diet plan. Thoughts about your future self start to take shotgun.
Your goals are set and it is your mission to do conquer them. Perhaps you have tried other diets and they have failed, or maybe you just didn’t work as hard at it.
This time is different, but fair warning, you will have bad days or bad meals. When that happens, rope your self-sabotaging thoughts in and get back on the horse.
Here are some things that work for me and others:
1. Don’t beat yourself up. What does your inner voice tell you? I know it may sound cheesy, but when was the last time you told yourself you were worth it?
As you get started on this new track of keto eating, exercise, food tracking, and an overall healthier lifestyle keep in mind that you are still just a human.
You are not striving for perfection; instead, strive for continuous improvement. Our inner voice is essential to our lifestyle choices gaining momentum.
Our routines and habits can permanently be changed, enhanced, modified, and tailored for you. Most people accept their bad eating habits or settle into feeling bad all the time; little do they know, we can all feel really freaking good all the time!
Recently, I have had the opportunity to talk to an individual who struggles with mental health and physical health. His name is Michael.
Here is Michael’s story:
Since childhood, Michael started packing on the pounds around nine years old. Playing video games, eating whatever was in the pantry, and being bullied for his belly at school, Michael sunk into a little bit of depression.
By middle school, Michael had grown taller and also grown his belly fat. He decided to do something about it and try out for the football team. He made the team but did not have the mental strength to fit in with the jocks.
Michael quit and decided to try other things like marijuana and alcohol, amongst other prescription drugs. By his teenage years, he started dealing drugs, continued to work at a dead-end job, and eventually, in a couple of years, ended up with two felonies and the belief that he was worthless.
This belief stayed with him through his twenties, and he coasted by, living with his parents and making a living in the drug world, late nights, late mornings, too much alcohol, and reckless with food and exercise.
Michael turned 35 years old and still believes that he is not in control of his life. He decided to take back control and make a conscious decision to better himself. It took time and baby steps, but quitting smoking was his first step. Adding in an exercise routine helped him gain muscle and have more energy. He started eating cleaner but ended up following a crash diet that was not sustainable.
When Michael failed, he realized that he wasn’t doing something right; he quickly and without hesitation went straight back to his old ways. He told himself that these were things he was familiar with, which made him feel comfortable. But those good feelings he once had when taking care of himself could not be forgotten. His fight against self-sabotaging thoughts is still a great work in progress.
Life comes with great responsibilities, taking care of children, paying bills, owning a home, and having pets. These responsibilities weigh differently on people, some break under pressure to make it all happen.
We worry about taking care of others and doing things for others all the time but put ourselves on the back burner. How will you take care of everyone else if you are not willing to take care of yourself?
Staying in line with your goals is difficult but necessary. What new belief would empower you? What does your soul know is true if there wasn’t fear of failure? If you are getting in the way of yourself because of your beliefs about yourself, it’s time to let that go.
2. When you fall off on food and have a binge, does that mean all your hard work is for nothing? No, it does not! Just get back up and get yourself going. Every day is a new day, without any hindrance from the previous day.
When you are really excited about starting something new, there is an energy that accompanies it. Every day is not perfect, but the initial jump-off is always really great!
Seeing results keep people motivated. The mind distorts, deletes, and generalizes; if you are mad at yourself for not following the diet that has given you great success, you must stop beating yourself up about it.
Here are some tips that have worked for others in their journey to a healthier lifestyle:
- Take pics and share what you are doing on social media. This will allow friends and family to see you and support you.
- Allow yourself to be educated by others who have expertise in fitness or nutrition.
- Don’t accept mediocrity about food.
- Remember, what happened yesterday has nothing to do with what TODAY will look like.
- Write a gratitude journal, and start training your mind to continue to connect with your true self and stay on track with your goals.
3. Sustainability and not letting one bad day define you.
The massive bodybuilding and fitness industry will offer meal plans that tell you to measure your foods and follow very strictly portioned servings of food.
This type of eating is a relic of the paradigm that when the fire is hot enough, anything will burn. This kind of eating is not sustainable, because you have to eat 6-8 times a day. If you are living a life, carrying your Tupperware containers everywhere will get annoying.
These types of eating mannerisms are calculated to put the body into a caloric deficit, allowing weight to melt down to the bone sometimes. Eating this way will work, but it is not something you can continue to do forever. Therefore, rendering this diet unsustainable.
Choosing to reset your body and reset your mind with a twenty-one-day keto reset diet will be a much better start! Learning keto, macronutrients, and micronutrients will change your outlook on food.
There are a lot of rules about what is “good” and what is “bad,” which can become a haunting thought every time you decide to go out to eat or attend a birthday party that is serving up a plethora of sweets. Learning and practicing self-control and enjoying foods (good or bad) should always be your goal.
Some weeks will be better than others, some days will be more energetic than others, but overall, most days will be great, productive, and active. Making a daily goal to stay active, eat healthily, and only look forward instead of looking back.
If you fall off, just get right back up. Every day is an opportunity to do better than the last.
4. Lifestyle and habit stacking
Developing a lifestyle change takes dedication. Intentionally learning new things about your body and fine-tuning yourself back to the factory settings will take some time.
Throughout our lives, we gather habits. Habits are a settled or regular tendency or practice, tough to give up. Most people think of bad habits when they hear the word.
Bad habits do not have to rule your life. It’s time to start stacking good habits. Take a deep look at habits you want to change, and focus on changing one at a time.
Perfect the change and put that new, good habit into your routine before you try to change something else.
Give yourself time and give yourself grace.
5. Building a healthy, sustainable lifestyle will provide you with the confidence to keep your body where you want it to be.
The series of changes you are experiencing are not temporary. Many people climb the mountain of weight loss success just to slide back down the other side. Do not be one of those people!
If you are constantly battling with keeping off the weight, you need to take a deeper look into what you are up against. Focusing on outside appearances is great, but working on what’s inside is just as important. Managing stress, trauma, emotions, life changes, finances, family, will greatly impact your success on a diet.
Overall, we want sustainability; tracking food and stacking habits will give you sustainability and confidence. As you get more comfortable with tracking your food and portion recognition, you will feel less intimidated about what to order or how much to eat at a restaurant.
In addition, saying NO to foods and things that do not serve you well in your journey is essential to building trust and building tolerance to the nay-sayers that exist.
Be grateful that you have the opportunity to change your life. Eventually, fear will disappear, and abundance will appear.
6. Don’t get discouraged, and don’t quit. When you leave, you fail. One bad day does not equal a bad life, does not equal a lousy diet, does not equal a bad workout.
Becoming a better version of yourself does not happen overnight, and it does not happen without some pain. Discovering what pain is will be unique and different for each individual.
Gaining self-confidence, changing your mind about your food and drink choices, and deciding to dedicate some time to yourself for exercise will probably come at a cost. Most people will say that they don’t have time for themselves, yet their entire Saturday and Sunday is spent watching TV, drinking too much with friends, and going out to eat. Don’t believe your own excuses, they are not always true.
The storm of change is clearing a path for you to make some mental gains in your life and achieve your goals. Embrace it!
7. Pain should not be your only motivator. Pain and happiness go together. Without the pain, you can’t appreciate the pleasure.
Be in control of your mindset at all times. One bad feeling could ruin your entire day. Putting more love into yourself will radiate externally.
Doing kind things and sending good energy into the universe will bring it back to you. For example, small things like telling people to have a good day, sending a kind text to people you love and appreciate.
Being honest, raw, and full of love will bring you success. Get back up when you have a bad day, have a terrible meal, and get back on track.
Tell yourself it’s okay, you can do this!
