WEEKEND BINGE / MONDAY REGRETS

So you spent all weekend binge eating and you feel like crap. Friday night was party night, you threw caution to the wind and said carbs? Sugars? Gimme gimme! Saturday rolled round and it was cold af. Your head said soup and the devil on your shoulder was all ooo I want things fried, no not like that - deep fried mama! And while you are at it, for dessert I want something baked in chocolate sauce! Don't forget the whipped cream! Dairy-free schmairy free, tell it to hand cus the face wants creaaam!

Now it's Monday and you are filled with regrets and shame. Your body looks flabbier, your face is threatening spots and wrinkles. Or both. You know you should eat a salad but it's just so effing cold you seriously can't be stuffed. So what do you do? How can you possibly get your wellness back on track when you've already derailed so bloody far you can't see the road or the path back there?

Hey how about that day I literally did nothing but eat pancakes all day?? It wasn't even the weekend!

First of all, you need to cut yourself some slack. That negative self-talk is doing nobody any good, least of all you. So you fell off the wagon, big whoop. Did your kids poop in the potty the first time you showed them? Or did they shit on the floor like mine? Did you belittle and abuse them or did you praise them and try again another day? Try to be more patient with yourself and allow slip ups or you can fall into a "I give-up cus I messed up already" self-sabotage mentality.

Any journey to wellness is going to have setbacks and off days. It's not unlike raising kids, three steps forward, two steps back. It's less about being perfect and more about being happy with good enough. Aim for leniency on your food rules. Carbs are not the devil, neither is sugar. Gluten is actually not evil and last year 400million less animals were killed for meat - that already happened. Noone cares if you ate a bacon sando (or 5) or you love cheese. But maybe question your motives?

Personally, I often self-medicate a food binge by rationalising I "need a pick me up" but the truth is, I'm really doing it so I can belittle myself later for my poor choices. One bite in and I'm already racing to the end. Instead of making excuses to myself, I've tried to flip the script and ask why I need the pick me up. Am I angry about something? What is making me feel low? Did I sleep well last night? It's a crazy weird thing trying to have a sensible conversation with yourself. But like exercise, with practice, it gets easier. When you crack the code, you can start making real change.

Even Eddy feels like eating rubbish sometimes! This was our last Xmas in Thailand bit old, still cute!

My biggest piece of advice? Be kind to yourself on a Monday. You will never get through all the washing, all the work, all the chores or all the exercise today. It's a terrible day to try and start a diet or haul ass to the gym. By all means, do both if you can but if you can't, don't punish yourself because the kids are eating leftovers or sandwiches for tea. Make Monday the new fun day and try a bit of clean-slate action. Forget what happened on the weekend and try again tomorrow. That's my goal today at least!

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