As described in the EatingWell Diet book, one of the secrets to long-term weight management is getting back to your good habits immediately after a slip-up (or sometimes a week of slipping up!) occurs. Share a time when you've had a minor--or a major--"lapse" in eating healthfully or exercising regulary and how you recovered to get back on track.

Once had a an incident during the diet where I went temporarily insane and ate nearly a whole sleeve of roasted cinnamon almonds! Mmmmm, anyway if you look them up in the calorie book, they are like a gazillion. So i didn't eat dinner in order to keep my calories "near" what they should have been and felt adequately punished for the lapse! Also i recently had a series of obstacles to getting in my exercise. All i could do there was jump back on the treadmill as soon as i could and just get back on track! I didn't beat myself up over it because stuff IS going to happen, but I did just focus on getting back to it. KEEP GOING!

Keeping a food journal for many months now has made me realize that every week contains a zinger - baseball games, cookouts, parties, bunco nights, block parties - that will throw off your good intentions! Knowing about these events in advance helps because then you can plan and budget what you eat earlier in the week. If the planning is not possible, then the recovery must be swift and sometimes severe I, too, had an incident with cinnamon almonds recently (as did OrlandoMonica) and it really surprised me. I've had such control over portions and choices for many months and didn't expect a bag of cinnamon almonds to get the best of me. I made some adjustments by seriously cutting back the rest of the day and then added a few extra laps around the block to try and make up for it. I also took some time to figure out what had caused it and it came down to too much time between meals and not having a plan for the day. I still feel vulnerable to the enticement of food, but I feel equipped to make a strong recovery when necessary!

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Originally posted by EatingWellNicci:
As described in the EatingWell Diet book, one of the secrets to long-term weight management is getting back to your good habits immediately after a slip-up (or sometimes a week of slipping up!) occurs. Share a time when you've had a minor--or a major--"lapse" in eating healthfully or exercising regulary and how you recovered to get back on track.

Sometimes your goal for any given week has to be to NOT GAIN weight. Slip ups happen. I have not had a cinnamon almond moment, mine generally comes in the form of too much white wine. You have to forget about it. If you beat yourself up for "failing" you are likely to go all out as a "failure" and give up. You then find yourself in that endless spiral of gaining and losing the same, 15, 20 or whatever pounds. This has to be a journey which comes with life long patience and acceptance. Just accept it, learn something and move on. You will be a better and healthier person for it.

I have had endless slip ups throughout this diet challenge. social gatherings equal drinking alcohol for me which was a major stumbling block in the beginning. since september however, I have tamed the beast and have got it under control. I have also had a few food moments here and there but not as bad as it could have been. Being conscious of what I am doing and being on a program to keep me on track has been a saving grace throughout. If I slip up I don't wait for the the next day, I just get it back under control for the next meal (if there is one). It's been very difficult journaling at times and a nuisance, but it is enlightening to really see in front of you how much you really are consumming and getting under control