Are You on the Sour Grape Diet?

Weight loss coach and psychologist David Junno wonders if some of us may be looking for excuses as to why we should go off of our diet and exercise program -- what he calls the "Sour Grape Diet?"

There's an Aesop's fable about a fox trying to get some grapes. After jumping and jumping and not being able to reach them, the fox walks away telling himself they were probably sour anyway. This is very similar to what many of us do when we run into difficulties trying to make healthy changes in our lives.

If we go off our diet or stop exercising for a few days, there are a couple things we might say to ourselves. We might conclude that we are simply incapable of dieting or exercising. If we are incapable of it then we are off the hook, we don't even have to think about it anymore. Or we might tell ourselves that the goal of getting healthier isn't that important. We might say something like, 'Why go through all the trouble of trying to live healthier if we are all going to die eventually anyway'. This again takes the pressure off, why try if it's not worth it.

I call this the sour grape diet. The sour grape diet is good for reducing bad feelings, but lousy for sticking with a healthier living plan. What makes matters worse is once we start the sour grape diet it is hard to stop. We start gathering evidence to support our conclusions. For example every time we pick up a high fat snack we can say- there I go again, I guess I really can't diet. Or we hear that someone in good health dies, we might say- what good did that good health do them, they died anyway. We end up convincing ourselves more and more that there is either nothing we can do or its not worth doing.

Getting off the sour grape diet

To get off the sour grape diet first we need to notice that we are looking for evidence supporting our decision to give up. We need to confront our excuses. We might confront the 'I can't do it' statement with something like, 'Maybe I can't stick to my program all the time, but I can some of the time, and that can make a difference'. To the statement about everyone dying eventually we can say, 'Sure we all die, but on the average healthier people live longer. Also, they get more out of the time they do live because they are not suffering as many medical problems as people who haven't taken care of themselves'.

Then we can start gathering evidence for our being able to make positive changes in our health habits. We can notice the times we have made a good choice like avoiding a food that we should not eat, or went out for a walk instead of sitting around. We can start paying attention when we hear about people who have made positive changes in their lives, and find out more about how they did it. When we focus on our successful steps we strengthen our resolve. That leads to increased determination and confidence. With increased confidence and determination we start doing more the things we need to do. This leads to more positive results and more evidence to support our future efforts.

Quote

If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.
Chinese Proverb

So get off the sour grape diet and get back on the path to healthy living, and imagine how good those grapes are going to taste when you finally reach them.

Additional Resource

Find out about my new 8 week teleclass: Keys to Healthier and Happier Living

Remember, having the right diet and getting enough exercise will not only improve your health- IT WILL IMPROVE YOU LIFE.

Until next time,

Dave Junno Psy.D.

Dave Junno Psy.D. is a psychologist, coach and author of Lowering High Cholesterol and Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease- READY OR NOT! To contact him mail to: drjunno@drjunno.comor visit his website: http://www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com and sign-up for his free e-mail newsletter: Ready or Not.