Do you remember what you ate on July 23, 2019? (That’s one year ago at the time of me writing this, in case that’s not clear)
My guess is probably not. A lot happens in one year, and in the grand scheme of things, what you ate on a random Thursday is likely not going to stick out in your memory bank. I mean, with all that the World is experiencing in 2020, your diet on July 23rd is not a very big deal. Unless today is your birthday or another memorable date, odds are that you have no idea what you ate one year ago.
If today doesn’t go according to plan, it might feel like you totally ruined your progress. But time goes on, we forget, and it’s NEVER as bad as you think. In the moment, deterring from your diet might feel like the end of the world. I understand the stress and frustration, and I’m not here to downplay the struggles- but it is only one day. In the grand scheme of things, one day is not going to have a large enough impact to stress over.
A year ago today you may have stayed perfectly on track, or you may have overate (you might be able to log into your food tracking app and figure out exactly what you ate, but let’s go off of memory alone). Regardless of what happened, your life moved on and it has been forgotten.
No matter how poorly (or well) you eat today, it’s only one day, and one day never made or broke a diet.
Results take time. No matter what your goals are, you’re never going to accomplish them in one day, just as much as you won’t ruin them in one day either. It’s easy to feel like we ruined all of our progress with one day of overeating, but we forget that we don’t make progress that quickly. If we don’t make all of our progress with one good day, why would we ruin it all with one bad day?
I talk about this a lot, but that’s because it’s truly one of the most (if not THE most) important concepts to grasp. One day does not define you. Good or bad, one day is not where the results are made or lost. Results come from many months, and many years, of consistency. One “off” day will not ruin that.
A bad day can feel like it’s going to change your life, but we move on and forget about it. And that’s truly all you can do- keep moving forward.
If yesterday was a bad day, or today has not gone the way you’d like it to, don’t sweat it. Get back on track and keep moving forward and I promise you will forget all about it. It’s impossible to permanently fall off track… as long as you get back on track, no matter what has or hasn’t happened, you are moving in the right direction.
In a year, your “bad day” today will be a forgotten memory. I promise it is never as bad as you think.
