Rigid thinking, or all-or-nothing thinking
is when you think you're either perfect or a failure,
fantastic, or a loser, on a diet or off a diet.

An example of rigid thinking
with regards to our eating behaviors is:
"What the heck, I've ruined it anyway".

This is the thinking that causes us
to throw all caution to the wind,
and choose to eat whatever, whenever,
and however much we like.

While telling ourselves we'll start again,
…maybe even on a new and different diet plan...
later, tomorrow, or perhaps on Monday,
or perhaps at the beginning of next month.

When the winds blow, a willow sways with them,
while an oak remains still
When a powerful wind comes along,
the willow can bend with the wind and survive it,
but the oak cannot bend,
and so if the wind is strong enough, it will break.

When our thoughts are rigid, just like a stiff tree,
we can easily break. "There goes my diet for today"
Contrast that to an open and flexible attitude,
a middle way, a grey area, which is the place
between eating the whole thing or nothing.

This middle way is: "it's not completely ruined".
The best way to keep ourselves from giving up
when we've taken a misstep,
is to draw our awareness to that middle way,
and be flexible in our thinking.
A partial failure is not a total failure.

If I spilled a bit of food onto a favorite dress I was wearing,
taking care of that mishap right away,
as soon as possible, could salvage my dress.

But if I think "Well, it's ruined anyway",
I'm less likely to get the stain out before it sets.
Even with that rigid mindset.
.......with regards to the spilt food misstep,..... 
I'd be unlikely  to react by choosing to immediately
dump the rest of my plate's contents on my dress.

This ia  picture of one serving of food from my new cooking video,
Roasted Chicken Thighs
which is located at DietHobby, under RECIPES,  Mealtime.

This is my most recent "Ask Grandma" video,
which was made for my DietHobby, youtube channel,
however I'm also featuring it here, because
depression is very relevant in matters of 
weight-loss and weight-maintenance. 

Being fat tends to feel depressing. 
Feeling depressed encourages us to make
bad diet and exercise choices,
even though better eating choices,
and exercise can help to raise depressed feelings.

We can't make ourselves happy every minute,
but there are things we can do to manage depression.

A book I talked about recently, 

"The Power of Habit" (2012) by Charles Duhigg, says:

"This is how willpower becomes a habit;
by choosing a certain behavior ahead of time,
and then following that routine when an inflection point arrives."

I was unfamiliar with that term, so I looked it up.
An inflection is defined as a deviation from a straight or normal course;
a variation that deviates from the standard or norm.
So an Inflection Point is when a change in one's normal situation takes place.

This book's statement confirms what I have previously learned:
that in matters of weight control, It's important to plan ahead;
to visualize a way to handle potential problem situations:
and then, when problems arise,
to follow through with the visualized plan
despite the existence of those difficulties.

However, before reading the above-quoted statement,
I had not considered my previous knowledge
to be a part of the habit building function.

Recently I've been reading several books about
Willpower and Habit, and thinking about those concepts
as they relate to weight-loss and maintenance of weight-loss. 

Information about Habit formation is now a major field of research
in neurology and psychology departments at manyuniversitities and
medical centers, as well as inside corporate labs. 

Computers have greatly increased the ability to analyze data,
and the push to understand how daily habits influence our decisions
is now one of the hottest topics in clinical research. 

Most of us are hardly aware that our habit patterns exist,
but a study from Duke University estimated that habits,
rather than conscious decision-making, shapes 45 percent
of the choices we make every day, and recent discoveries
have begun changing the thinking about dieting, as well as
treatments for anxiety, depression, and addictions. 

Although Habits can be ignored, changed, or replaced,
once the loop in our brains is established, and a habit emerges,
the brain stops fully participating in decision-making. 
So unless one deliberately fights a habit 
- which means finding new cues and rewards -
the old pattern will unfold automatically. 

The book on habit that I'm currently reading is:
"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" (2/28/2012)
by Charles Duhigg.

This morning I posted a new Diet Wisdom video,
What is Food?  
which is located at DietHobby, under DIET WISDOM,  Basics.