Is This Why You Keep Pressing The Diet “F*ck it’ Button?

It’s the weekend.. F*ck it, I’ll eat what I want. 
 
It’s my sisters wedding.. F*ck it, she only gets married once (hopefully), I’ll eat what I want. 
 
There’s ice cream in the fridge.. F*ck it, its Friday, I’m tired, I’ll just eat what I want.
 
The moons of Jupiter are orbiting a weird way today.. F*ck it, I’ll eat what I want. 
 
Is your diet ‘F*ck it’ button completely worn out? 
 
I spoke in yesterday’s video about the main culprits for pressing that button, and instead of rehashing the video; here are some questions to ask yourself as to why you might be pressing the diet ‘f*ck it’ button over and over again.

Questions to consider: 

1. Are you splitting food into ‘good and bad’ categories? 
2. Are you pressing it out of habit? 
3. Are you resetting or compounding? 
4. Do you even have a reason NOT to press it? 

Now, if any of those questions jumped out at you, lets dissect them a bit.

1: Are you splitting food into ‘good and bad’ categories? 

 I spoke in the video that when weight loss is the goal, there really are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods per se, only good or bad diets. 

In Monday’s podcast, my guest Steve Griffin, who lost over 100lbs in 8 months by tracking calories talked about how this one mindset change shifted the trajectory on his weight loss journey. 

A mars bar isn’t necessarily a ‘bad’ food in relation to calories-  it has about 230kcals per bar. If you have an allowance of 1,600kcals a day, that’s a small portion of it. However, 10 mars bars is 2,300kcals. That puts you into a massive calorie surplus. The food itself isn’t necessarily good or bad, the quantity and the context matters. 

2: Are you pressing it out of habit? 

 I spoke in my first book ‘The Fitness Mindset’ about when I worked full time as a teacher and how I used to come home from school every day, grab two 100g chocolate bars and sit on the couch to watch game shows for several hours. A month later, all my jeans were a lot tighter than they used to be. I had created a bad habit. I learnt more about the ‘trigger, cue, reward’ formation of habits which I speak about in the book and luckily, I was able to change it; but are you just pressing it out of habit? 

The bad news is, habits can be tricky the change, especially if you’ve been doing it for years. The good news is, the University of London says it takes about 66 days to form a new habit so if you get started today, you’ll be on the road to never looking back.  

3: Are you resetting or compounding? 

In my new book ‘Rewire Your Mindset’ – I talk about the magic penny and the beauty of compounding and how impactful that can be on your life.

However, compounding can work in a negative direction too. Have you ever slipped up on the morning meal and said ‘f*ck it’ – I’ll get back on track tomorrow or have you ever gone off plan on a Friday and said ‘f*ck it’ – I’ll get back on it on Monday morning. 

Making one unsupportive meal choice or having one bad day of eating and saying ‘f*ck it’ to the rest of the day or weekend is like driving your car on the highway, getting one flat tyre and then slashing the other three tyres because one went flat. That’s ludicrous, but its the exact same thing! 
 The next time you slip up or go off plan, don’t press the f*ck it button, just ‘reset’ and go again. Make a better choice in the next meal or the next day. There’s nothing wrong with falling off track- that happens to all of us, just don’t let is spiral out of control. 

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4: Do you even have a reason NOT to press it?

The truth is, sometimes you should press the ‘f*ck it’ button – holidays, events or special occasions, life isn’t and shouldn’t be one big diet. 

However, its wearing out your button that can do the real damage. Working hard and making good food choices (or automatic food choices that I talk about in the nutrition section of the The Fitness Mindset) whilst working towards an end goal is the secret. 

If you don’t have a goal currently, then set one.. TODAY! 

Do you want to lose 10lbs, run a half marathon or drop three dress sizes?  
Great, set the goal and now work towards it.

I’ve been training all my adult life and I still need to set goals for myself or the Ben of Jerry’s tub in my freezer is just that bit more tempting*

*that’s not entirely true. As mentioned in the  video, it’s a ‘trigger food’ for me, so I don’t buy it unless I plan to eat it that day. Systems over willpower.

The next time you feel like pressing the ‘f*ck it’ button, just ask yourself why you’re doing it. If you feel that its the right moment to press it, then by all means, do it, be mindful of what you’re eating and enjoy it. 
 
However, If pressing it right now isn’t going to help you in the long term, then maybe take a step back and remind yourself of your end goal. Sometimes that can be enough.