Why we lie to ourselves as dieters

Chocolate cake, mmm…

Admit it… there is a piece of chocolate cake just sitting there and you want it. You start negotiating with yourself and you try ever so cleverly to trick yourself in to eating it. First it starts out innocent enough…. Wow, is that piece for me? Someone must have wanted me to have it. It’s not good for my diet, but it looks sooo good.

Then the rationalization begins…

Maybe just a little piece won’t make a difference, I did work out today so I already burned these calories, I had a hard day today, I deserve it!

I probably won’t gain anything; it would be rude of me NOT to eat it!

Finally, the little food addict in most of us takes over and we give in and have the cake. Of course, along with the piece of cake comes:

• Guilt
• Regret
• Remorse
• Feeling like a failure
• Desire to give up yet another diet
• Feeling defeated
• Feeling unhealthy

This perpetual cycle of...

1. Wanting to lose weight

2. Starting a diet

3. Cheating (Could be situational, emotional, cravings, pure hunger, etc)

4. Weight gain

5. Guilt

...will continue until you make a change. That change needs to happen BEFORE you pick up that piece of cake. Certainly, your unrelenting inner critic has a say in all this, but she/he doesn’t need to take center stage. What you need to do is ask yourself... is what have I learned from this? What can I do better next time I am tempted? What are my triggers?

Even though I'm a Health Coach I have gone through it at one time in my life.

For starters….learn how to say NO to yourself. Perhaps you require immediate gratification? Perhaps that chocolate cake is the highlight of your day. Let’s hope not. Stop putting such an emphasis on being able to eat whatever you want. It is overrated! What you want is not in that cake! Food is just sustenance, not your source of comfort, your friend or adversary for that matter. Certainly, joy can be received from eating certain delicacies, but it cannot replace love, companionship, affection, or appreciation. If you do not have someone in your life giving those things to you, you need to be giving them to yourself. Self love is key! 

Recognize that food is not comfort, if anything we feel uncomfortable afterwards. Our pants are tighter, we don't like what we see in the mirror, and our sense of failure is bigger and we lose faith in ourselves to ever lose the weight.

In closing....If you choose to have the cake, one spoonful can often be enough! There is no benefit to the side of guilt and regret that comes along with eating it, so leave that at the door and get back on track immediately afterwards.