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February 10, 2005
pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start all over again.
pinky asked about successful context switching... falling off a diet then getting back on it. so i'll write this.
this week i broke my diet twice, both times in response to a compendium of circumstances that seemed overwhelming. in both cases, one of the circumstances was being really fucking starving ravenously hungry, so i think that probably means i need to snack more.
in both cases i made a big point of being sure that my next meal was on the diet plan. it's hard. once you've cheated it's very easy to feel like it's too difficult to continue. or that a little cheating doesn't matter. but if you only slip for one meal and no more, you remain charge of what you're eating... not your emotions or whatever it is that drives you to eat badly.
i've been wondering a lot lately how much locus of control has to do with this stuff. apparently a sign of strong external locus of control is learned helplessness-- "playing the victim" in pop psychology terms. i think the core of my struggle with eating is being in charge of what i eat vs. allowing myself to be guided by mysterious, unknowable factors ("i don't know why, i just really want some french fries right now.") i mean yes, you have to listen to your body, but if you think your body is telling you that you need to eat french fries for your health, you're almost certainly quite mistaken. if you're having a strong, physical french fry craving (not an emotional one), chances are that you need to read up on carbohydrate addiction, stat.
anyway, i think i might try coming up with a week-long menu plan for next week. i think more planning will help me both stay on and enjoy the diet more, and i won't have that "crap-- there's nothing for dinner" problem. i'll let you know how it goes.
Posted by lisa at February 10, 2005 08:00 PM | TrackBack
ok, so a) your comment won't post right away because i have to approve it first and b) you might get a server error but your comment probably posted anyway and c) previewing doesn't work so i've removed the preview button.