The weight loss mistake we make over and over ‎

 So you order a spinach salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing topped with grilled chicken. Just when you’re starting to feel proud of yourself—after all, you’ve got protein from the chicken, fiber and antioxidants from the spinach, and monounsaturates from the olive oil—your friend’s pizza suddenly shows up.

Now you’re grouchy because you want that pizza. What you’re experiencing is a state of cognitive dissonance. You’re trying to rationalize the menu choice you made which is consistent with your goals against the immediate gratification of the pizza. Something has to give and it’s usually you. You want to stay the course but in the end you give in and split a dessert.

GM Diet

Most of us perform this mental bargaining mistake over and over again and it can sabotage our weight loss efforts. While splitting half a dessert isn’t going to ruin an otherwise well planned weight loss program, relapse that grows and expands will. Relapse is reverting back to negative behaviors that undermine your goals. And it can grow from the smallest failure.

Negative CalorieLet’s continue the above scenario and see where it might lead if relapse were to grow. After dessert you’re feeling guilty because you fell off the wagon. At this point, you can jump right back on, but no, you think, “I’ve ruined it for today, I might as well eat whatever I want for dinner and then be good tomorrow.

Conventional wisdom tells us that if we’re in a hole, we should stop digging. Unfortunately, logic doesn’t often prevail when it comes to food and dieting. Tomorrow comes and you carry over the poor eating behavior to the next day and the day after that. Pretty soon it’s the weekend and there are parties, family gatherings, not a good time to be dieting. “I’ll start fresh on Monday.”It’s easy to see how your own mental bargaining can be disastrous and keep you from achieving your weight loss goals. But there is a way out of this conundrum.