I CHEATED big-time on my diet today.
Sound familiar?
You’ve probably used several variations of this line, and in fact, chances are that at some point, you’ve said the word “cheat” when discussing your weight-loss efforts.
If you confess that you “cheated” on your diet, that indicates you believe the diet is in charge.
You also label yourself in a way that gives away your power. After all, if you were strong, you wouldn’t cheat on your program.
The truth is you can’t cheat with food! It’s impossible. The word cheat refers to something illegal or immoral, and food is neither of these.
As of today, completely stop using the word cheat when you refer to your eating plan. Instead, use the words choose or choice to describe your behavior.
In regard to eating, every morsel that goes into your mouth is put there by choice.
Sometimes you’ll make healthy choices, sometimes lousy ones. Over time, all of these choices affect your outcomes such as whether or not you lose weight.
If you eat a cookie that wasn’t on your plan, then say, “I chose to eat a cookie today.” Maybe you wish you hadn’t done it, but either way, you made a choice about eating it.
Today’s assignment (My answers are in blue)
1. Talk to someone about your diet plan, using the word choice several times to describe your actions. Notice how that feels. Write a few notes about this.
It feels a little awkward to say, “I chose to eat dessert or drink wine.” But it also feels very authentic, and I don’t feel like I’m cutting myself down like using the word “cheated.”
2. In the space below, record at least three choices you made around food today.
I chose to eat a good breakfast. I chose to ignore cookies. I chose to eat a fresh peach.
3. If you make a weak or poor choice, figure out how to describe it without using negative words such as cheat. Write your new wording below.
I recently made an unfortunate choice, an unplanned choice, and a disappointing choice. But they were all choices!
Excerpted from Day 69 in the book 100 Days of Weight Loss