Back to the Drawing Board
When we find ourselves unable to move forward, what can we do? How about going backward! This may sound strange, but it can be a very effect strategy for handling obstacles. Every now and then a tactical retreat to regroup can be an important part of a successful campaign.
Let’s say we find ourselves snacking on foods that we know we shouldn’t have. Instead of beating ourselves up for not being able to resist snacking, maybe we need to back up and look at our preparation. We may find that we have certain times or situations we want something to eat, where there are not healthy choices available. The solution: come up with a new plan for managing these events, e.g. bringing a healthy snack with you, or have an alternative activity planned for times you might be tempted to go off your diet.
If we find ourselves skipping days of exercise, maybe we need to go back and remind ourselves why we want to exercise in the first place. We may need to look again at what is the problem exercise is going to help us solve. Are we convinced that exercise will help this problem? Is the goal important enough to us? Do the potential benefits of exercise outweigh the difficulties doing the exercise? Obviously, these different questions each require a different solution.
Looking at the question of whether exercise will help us solve our problem, may require returning to the facts, or monitoring the results of exercise to see if it is working. For the question of whether the benefits outweigh the difficulties, we might need to find ways to look for more potential benefits, or decrease the difficulty by changing the kind of exercise we do, or including more social support in our exercise routine.
If we finding ourselves using food to manage our feelings, we will need to step back and get a better idea about what these feelings are. Do we know what we are feeling? Are we able to find alternative methods of managing these feelings? Is food is really helping or is it just making matters worse? The answers to these questions can lead us to other things we may need to do to get us back on track again.
Points to Consider
Hitting a wall in our efforts to live healthier, doesn’t mean we can’t do it. It just means we need to go back to the drawing board, and craft new solutions to address our circumstances. Below are some areas to consider when our efforts start to falter:
- Look at the problem we are facing, is it an important enough problem for us to make changes?
- Are we convinced that the efforts we are trying to make will solve our problem?
- Have we planned adequately?
- Do we have the supports in place to sustain our efforts?
- Are we prepared for occasional slips and set-backs?
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 email drjunno@drjunno.com or visit his website, www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com, or sign-up for his free e-mail newsletter: Ready or Not..
