“Rezoom,” says Susan Peirce Thompson, author of Bright Line Eating and popular “vlogger.” When you mess up and don’t live up to one of your “bright lines” (food commitments), get back on track right away. Don’t repeat the unwanted action, but do “Give yourself permission to be human.” Then it is critical that the moment you realize you have broken a bright line, you need to admit it and think of what went wrong and how you will avoid the “slip” next time. And here are the positive actions you need to consider:
- Food—Review in your mind what your food goals are and then plan your food ahead of time. For example, on Sunday night, you should know what you are going to eat at all three meals on Monday. And all the ingredients should be on hand. Any pre-prep work you can do will strengthen your resolve.
- Actions—These are the habits that support your food goals. For example, Have you removed unhealthful food from your house? Develop habits to create automatic healthful behaviors. For excellent information on how to do this, see James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits for creating habits that help you accomplish whatever you want to accomplish. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=atomic+habits+book+james+clear&i=stripbooks&crid=1BLZ3OQBG1KOF&sprefix=Atomic+%2Caps%2C491&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_7
- Support—Food is social. When you do something that puts you at odds with family and friends, you feel like you don’t belong. The only way to combat this fear of not belonging is to have friends or a community who eat the way you do. Healthy Together Friends wants to be part of your support. Remember, our tagline is “Social support for healthful living.” It is my hope that this monthly newsletter will provide a little boost in your support system between times when we have meetings or events.