AAAAHHHHH! I ATE MY BODY WEIGHT IN CHOCOLATE!!!

​​You've been eating well & working out - but then you slip up... and now you feel like you have thrown all that good work out the window right?  It's easy to come back from a food blow out, much easier than continuing down the path of over eating & regret.  
So what can you do to stop the binge & get back on track?

STEP AWAY FROM THE BURGER:
​Sometimes it can feel like you are out of control, like you can't stop eating or can't resist particular foods, rather than feeling like you are in control & making the choice to eat outside of your new healthy meal plan. 
If that happens, just stop... & take a deep breath.  Don't let your internal voice say 'well you've stuff-up now, so you might as well keep going'.  You haven't 'stuffed-up'.  And you don't need to let a slip-up become a relapse into binge eating .  Just stop for second and remind yourself why you are trying to eat better, & then get back on track with the foods that you know will support your health goals.

THINK ABOUT THE WHY:
​Situations, places, being bored or feeling sad are just s few reasons that may see you turn to food  for comfort.  When this happens, you can often consume more than you want or need to, so it's good to think about the situation you were in when you got the urge.  Where were you? What were you doing?  What was your thought process?
Think about the situation you were in and why you felt the need to turn to food for comfort, so you can better prepare yourself if you're in the same situation in the future.

​HAVE A BACK-UP PLAN:
​Once you have figured out the why, when & where, you can come up with a plan to distract yourself for long enough for the desire to binge to pass.  Maybe you just need to wait 5 minutes rather than acting on impulse.  Maybe you need a healthy back-up snack that satisfies your urge while still supporting your goals.  Maybe you need to say, ok, I'll have some chocolate or pizza, but I will have this portion only & I'll savour it.

​​PLAN YOUR RELAXED MEALS:
There are many strategies that can help prevent a binge or lapse when you are trying to make healthy changes in your life.  A binge or lapse is very different from having a relaxed meal that you choose to have, & enjoy without experiencing bad feelings afterwards.  
​Planning your relaxed meal means that you are in control of what you are eating, you are in control of the portion size, and you can savour the food without the guilt that you may experience after binging. It's a yummy win-win.

​So if you find yourself in the situation where you are eating out of control or binging, just remember that you can take back control, and you can get straight back on track with your healthy eating plan.  It's within your power to make the change. You got this.