Slipped? Destroyed Your Diet? 7 Tips to Get Back on Track

Lately, I've been hearing from people who started eating sugar again and who wanted some guidance. Here's an article I wrote to help them -- and you -- if you fell off the no-sweets wagon.

Slipped? Destroyed Your Diet? 7 Tips to Get Back on Track
By Connie Bennett, C.H.H.C.

Did you fall off the diet wagon? Did you eat foods you promised to forego? Are you upset with yourself for "stupidly" eating sugary or fast-acting carbs?

Time and time again, my clients and readers of my book SUGAR SHOCK! complain to me about how they stumbled and fell down again. They desperately want to know how to get out of their muck and kick sugar for good.

Here are 7 tips to pick yourself up and get back on track and finally succeed.

1. Be gentle with yourself. If you slip and forego your good intentions, this is not the time to berate and belittle yourself. Instead use this "mistake" to lavish yourself with compassion, understanding and sympathy. Yes, you messed up, but give yourself a break!

2. Accept that you're imperfect. People with food issues often tend to expect themselves to get everything exactly right--or perfect. That sets you up for a huge letdown. Now that you've slipped, use this as a chance to claim your humanity, which means you'll make mistakes from time to time. Owning up to your limitations can be quite freeing.

3. Consider this a golden opportunity to start again. Instead of viewing your falling off the wagon as the most horrible dieting disaster that never should have happened, regard your slip as a chance to begin anew. You see, whenever you make a so-called "mistake" such as this, this could be exactly what you need! Think about it: Aren't you always more psyched when you begin a project?

4. View your slip as a learning experience. Falling off the no-sugar wagon could be just the instructive incident that you need to to break out of your habit. So be thankful (yes, thankful!) that you ate those junk foods. Now study yourself dispassionately like a lab rat to see just how much damage you caused yourself by slipping. Doing so will enable you to develop deeper resolve to boldly move forward with conviction and finally succeed.

5. Witness the horrors of your binge. Instead of wallowing in self-pity and self-hatred, jot some notes about how bad you feel in the wake of your sugar or carb spree. Keep a four-day journal in which you chronicle all the emotional, physical and even spiritual results of your binge. Write about your anger, brain fog, headaches, fatigue, depression, irritability, nervousness, anger outbursts at your kids, unexpected restlessness and nervousness, etc. If you monitor your reactions carefully like this, you'll easily remember these repercussions the next time you're tempted to veer off the track, and that will make you less inclined to slip and more likely to be able to win the sugar fight.

6. Reaffirm your commitment to being sugar-free. Almost immediately after your binge or minor slip, look inwards and jot down why you want to quit sugar or refined carbs. What benefits will you get from stopping? Keep reviewing this list again and again. Chances are good that your list will finally give you the impetus to break your habit for good.

7. See yourself free. The minute you stray from your intended diet, immediately create some positive phrases or mantras, which convey that you've already succeeded. You could say, "I only eat healthy foods. I am free." Better yet, create your own affirmation. Then, say them over and over again. See yourself back on track, too. Incidentally, seeing and affirming your sugar success -- which is something I've been doing for nearly 10 years -- also is encouraged as a powerful Law of Attraction tool that's discussed in the bestselling film and book, The Secret.)

I do hope that these 7 simple steps will help you to get back on track and begin to better again. Remember, you're doing this because you want to live a long, healthy, symptom-free life full of joy, freedom and self-confidence.

As you struggle to get back on your feet, remind yourself that life is much sweeter without all those refined sweets.

Connie Bennett, M.S.J., C.H.H.C. is author of SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley Books). Connie is the "Sugar Liberator," a speaker, frequent TV and radio show guest ("CBS News Sunday Morning," "Oprah & Friends Radio," etc.), certified holistic health counselor and "Your Habit Coach." Back in 1998, Connie quit sugar and refined carbs on doctor’s orders, and her many baffling ailments completely vanished, including horrible headaches, crippling fatigue and “brain fog.” Now, Connie mocks her unsavory sugar past by jokingly dubbing herself an “Ex-Sugar Shrew!” She has helped thousands of people break free from the depressing, debilitating aftershocks of overloading on “culprit carbs.” She runs the popular SUGAR SHOCK! Blog (www.SugarShockBlog.com); hosts the Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show; and offers "Break Free With Connie" live seminars and online, interactive programs. Connie also is an experienced journalist and columnist, who has been widely published (The Los Angeles Times, TV Guide, eDiets.com, etc.) Find out if you''ve been brainwashed to become a sugar addict by visiting www.SugarShock.com.

© Copyright 2007. Connie Bennett, www.SugarShock.com. You may reprint this article if you notify Connie in advance and then provide the above-mentioned credits.