Why it makes NO SENSE to go off program over the Weekend!

Yep, it's Sunday....and we are all in the middle of what I call "Weekenditis", that peculiar phenomenon that so many of us are susceptible to, wherein we do perfectly during the week, but somehow always fall down over the weekend.

Let's make it perfectly clear, by the way, when I talk about staying 100% OP. 

100% OP means NO extra meals, snacks, or off program food or drink.  Any of that is going off program!  Period!  You can rationalize it all you want, you can say "Well, I was 'almost' perfect", or "I was pretty much OP", but of course we both know what OP is and what it isn't.  So don't lie to yourself.  1 glass of wine is going off program.  An extra MF bag of chips is going off program!

Unless you're in maintenance and have PLANNED it into your food plan, ANYTHING 'extra' is going OFF PROGRAM. 

Which means, that BLT (Bite, lick or taste) is going off program.

Now.... MAYBE it won't throw you out of ketosis to have ONE bite of that sludge, but what will it do to your HEAD?   It opens the door for Fat Brain....and once the door is opened, just a crack, she comes out and starts telling you all sorts of crazy things....ANYTHING to get you to do what you 'always' did before, which of course is, EAT.


OK.  Here's my list.....this is what I tell myself and what keeps me on the straight and narrow over the weekend:

It makes NO SENSE to go off program because....
1).  I'll be off program!  (LOL).  Simple as that!  Seriously. Technically and emotionally, I'll KNOW I 'blew it'.  Even if I lie to myself or try to fight for or justify those little 'extras' here and there. I'll be lying to myself and we all know that the way to get to goal is to STAY OP every day. Not just Monday through Friday. That's how it's done....staying OP EVERY DAY.

2).  I'll be negating some -- if not ALL -- of my hard work I did during the week!  Let's face it, 1 glass of wine isn't just an extra 100 calories or so.  It's UNDOING ketosis, because alcohol acts like pure sugar in the body, and what's worse is, it lowers your inhibitions so that, suddenly that bread basket in the restaurant is easier to justify ... "Sure, why not?" (In for a penny, in for a pound, right?  WRONG...but that's how Fat Brain sees it).

3). I'll feel LOUSY when I go to bed at night.  Really lousy. Reviewing the day in my head I'll be thinking "If only I didn't have that one piece of sludge, I would've been perfect".
Coulda shoulda wouldas.....ugh.  Who needs it?  The bottom line is I feel awful that night because I 'blew it' again.  UGH.  NO THANK YOU!

4).  I'll be forcing myself to work even HARDER come Monday morning. So it's a double whammy....not only do I hate myself for what I overeat, but I ALSO have to restrict and deny myself even MORE to 'make up for it' (Ah yes, the make up game....not a healthy behavior we want to get into).  Who NEEDS this extra pressure every Monday morning?
Mondays are hard enough, thank you!

5).  Saturday and Sunday are DAYS just like any other DAY.  My body doesn't know the difference and doesn't care that it's the weekend.  Not one bit!  So it's going to react the same as it reacts on a Tuesday to anything extra I eat or drink.  My body will lose the weight when it's ready to lose the weight due to my taking in less calories than I expend....and that goes for a Sunday as well as a Tuesday. 

6).  I will be REINFORCING a bad habit!  A behavior (or maybe multiple behaviors) that are counterproductive for my health and well-being. And that's just NOT a good idea. Once I repeat a bad habit a few times, my brain 'remembers' it, associates eating 'more' with a certain timeframe or situation or even physical location (like a favorite chair) and it will get harder and harder to break that habit because the brain forms 'circuits' out of these events stacked up together....for example if you always had a glass of wine every Friday afternoon to 'reward' yourself for getting through another week at work, say sitting in your favorite easychair at a certain time of day, then every time it get to be that same time of day, EVERY Friday, my brain is going to react thinking it "MUST" have to have a glass of wine!
The brain circuits get reinforced like a ditch being built, slowly but surely over time. And that can make trying to change that habit even HARDER. 
CONTROL is what it's all about.  Achieving control over our food choices!  Once I focus on that, I can see that ALL my old eating 'scripts' need to be challenged and either changed or gotten rid of. Again, the brain forms hard-wired 'circuits' when I repeatedly do 'A' after 'B' and 'C' happen. 

7).  I'm setting myself up for a 'feast or famine' mentality.  And isn't this how many of us LIVED before we came here?  We were either dieting or bingeing.....somehow 'moderation' was something we couldn't even wrap our MINDS around. And that's no way to live.
The focus is too much on FOOD. Instead of where it should be....on LIFE!

So....bottom line, knowing what we DON'T want to do, how do you stay on track?

Well, I believe we CAN make it easier on ourselves.  I came up with a new acronym to help myself....if this helps you, GREAT...if not, make up one of your own!  (why NOT?)

L - LISTEN to the messages you're hearing inside, and realize that in every single case, no matter what the 'excuse' or 'reason' is, if the voice is telling you to overeat or have 'just one extra', that's FAT BRAIN talking!  (she wears many many disguises).....

I - INTERRUPT Fat Brain by pulling apart her 'logic' (which never makes any sense in the cold light of day) by realizing that One WILL hurt, and you DON'T 'need' this, etc.  And then, once you see the truth, IGNORE her lies.

N - NEGATE Fat Brain. Just say NO to her and tell her to get back in the closet (or go to the back of the bus, sit down and shut up LOL) because YOU are the driver of your bus....and YOU know where you're going and don't need a backseat driver!

D - DECIDE -not- to succumb, but instead DO something else!  Get out of the kitchen...get as far away mentally AND physically as possible under the circumstance.  Get BUSY doing something else, ANYTHING else, hopefully something that uses your hands and fingers so that you can't eat at the same time.  Go listen to some music or a stress relief meditation CD.  Play a game on the computer. Do some exercise...even a walk sometimes will do it, take your mind off it for a few minutes, long enough to get through it.  Lie down if you're tired. 

A - AGREE to ACHIEVE 100% OP performance for yourself this weekend.  Make it your goal!  ACTIONS -- our behavior of staying OP -- will produce the results we want, which is building HEALTHY habits and losing weight at the same time!

OK so that spells....what? (LOL....Hey, it's MY acronym LOL.)
You can do this yourself! Take your name and come up with an acronym that works for YOU.  Remembering the old Stop Challenge Choose philosophy....and incorporating those very same ideas into it. 
You're more likely to remember and USE the acronym if it's your own name, right?  :)
Will it be tough?  It may be at first....but NOT if you keep busy and if you realize that 'this too shall pass'.  I timed one of my urges once....I forced myself to drink water and looked at the clock.  It literally took about 10-15 minutes for the craving to subside.  It wasn't 'forever'.  So look at it that way. 

And remember, as well, that EVERY time you get through a craving or urge without giving in, you are tearing down the old brain circuits and building NEW healthy ones instead. If you do that often enough, you can BREAK the bad habits and eating messages from torturing you as often. 

Last but not least, I believe it's important NOT to react emotionally to any urges or cravings I have....and to start beating my head against a wall wondering 'Why WHY WHY?' but instead simply understand that old habits are hard to break and don't obsess or overstress or overemphasize them.  Don't give them any 'power' over you.

And understand that the secret of success on this program is to LEARN AS YOU GO!

We CAN break the bad habits.  Keep an open mind, read and learn (on this website, the recommended books I've got on the Binge Eaters Group page, etc.) and tell yourself this is just something new to learn, that's all.  But you CAN undo bad habits, over time and with a lot of patience with yourself.  It CAN BE DONE.

Keep on keepin' on!!!!  (and do NOT 'cave' to the 'craving'!)  :)

Have a great Sunday, everyone!  RELAX
.......where's the herb tea?  LOL   and tell her to get back in the closet where she belongs.