Diet Setbacks

What keeps us from accomplishing our goals and dreams? Most of us have a picture of what we would like to be, what we want to accomplish, how we would like to feel and look. But real life  gets in the way of reaching those goals, and its life’s daily events that keep us from living that idealized life. This week, I want to share a message I got from one of my clients. It describes a situation that I’m sure many of you share: the stress of work and being out of control of your own schedule causing a real setback in diet efforts.  

One of Personal Dietitian's members wrote:

“I was very good all week doing my exercise and eating carefully but went off the deep end last night. I have had terrible headaches for 3 days now (stress on job) working extra hours and either rushing lunch or no lunch at all. So, last night I was so hungry I ate a double serving of ravioli, then later two handfuls of almond joy bites. I am terribly upset with myself after doing this and feel that I undone the good I had done throughout the rest of the week. Hopefully you can give me guidance and get me on track. I truly want to help myself.”

This real life situation really hits home with a lot of people. How many of us has had “one of those days” where the stress of a job causes us to reach for our favorite comfort (food, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.)?  In this case, the person who experienced a hectic work schedule experienced terrible headaches and her job schedule created a situation in which she missed meals. Whether the job caused the headaches or the job caused her to miss meals, creating the headaches, is not the point. The outcome was that the situation got this person past the point of being able to control her appetite, because her hunger signs were too great. First of all, let me say that it is very normal to be hungry when you have to skip a meal, and very normal to eat more food later on to make up for it! This is just a reaction to the stress of life and being hungry, it doesn't make a person a failure and does not undo all the good work accomplished over the week. What’s important is that in this case, the person who went through the bad day had real feelings of failure, and she described it very aptly as “going off the deep end.” When this person overate, she felt like she had ruined all her past efforts and her hard work was for nothing. This is a perfect description of what people go through when they have a setback or “relapse” when trying to make a change in their life habits.  

Is it time to give up?

One of the differences between people who reach their goals and those who do not is the attitude they develop about setbacks.  We have to realize that we are all human, and that setbacks are part of life, and that they must be expected. This is especially true when we try to change major habits like diet, exercise, or smoking.

One event of overeating needs to be put into proper perspective. For one thing, sometimes a setback happens for good reasons – life events make it very difficult for us to stay on track. The attitude that one event spells the end of progress must change if real progress is to be made. It is difficult for some people who are in the habit of punishing themselves with negative thoughts to change this, and it takes practice. It also takes some positive experiences where real learning takes place and new habits develop. One setback is not the time to give up!  

Learn From The Setback

I thought it was a very good sign that this person reviewed her day and was able to see that what happened was the result of a "chain of events" - job stress, skipping a meal, headaches, hunger, overeating. Now, she can look at that day (because the same day could happen again) and see if there was anything that could have been done differently so that a more positive outcome could happen the next time a stressful day occurs.   

A New Plan - What are some possible solutions to this problem?

Be prepared with healthy, quick, high energy snacks.  When a busy day at work causes a missed meal, it’s healthy, power snacks to the rescue! A quick snack that stores easily can stop you from getting hungry beyond the point of no return. This simple thing can prevent the overwhelming hunger that can be experienced when meals are skipped, the reaction being to overeat later.  Some examples of high energy snacks are dried fruits and nuts (something like trail mix) with some protein, fat and carbohydrate that is easy to store. Another option is to have some of those protein energy bars or an energy drink (like Boost) to provide a quick, nourishing meal to get through a tough time. In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! 

Start the day with a good breakfast. If your schedule at work or at home is so tight that you often miss lunch, get a good breakfast in that will carry you through the day a little better. Instead of just toast and coffee, have some low fat cottage cheese, a glass of skim milk or low fat yogurt, some  oatmeal, a low fat breakfast meat ( soy sausage, Canadian bacon, for example) that will last into the day. 

It’s really hard to stop from overeating when hunger signals are very strong. The key to avoiding this is to really work on reducing the number of times you get to this point by planning ahead, and recognizing that your life has some stressful situations that are going to challenge your efforts to stay on track with your goals.

Learn to recognize a comfortable signal of true hunger (rumbling stomach, empty stomach) instead of letting hunger get to the point of headache, stomach pains, anger or crankiness. Having good food on hand and eating during the earlier signs of hunger can really help. When you aren’t eating out of desperate hunger, you will be better able to control when you stop eating and you’ll stop when you feel comfortable, rather than when you are over-full.