Forget Your Diet?

It’s Friday, and today is the start of Labor Day Weekend.
It is common for dieters to lose focus
around special events, like holidays and vacations.

Think about what happens to us at Thanksgiving,
Halloween, or Christmas when we tend to “forget”
to pay close attention to our food intake. 

Imagine you are a (good) parent shopping at the mall
with your two pre-school children.
You wouldn’t get so preoccupied that you forgot
that you brought your kids along.
Instead, you’d always know where your children were
and what they were doing.

Most parents have the mental ability to stay alert,
even after the kids are in bed. This built-in awareness,
or focus, helps them know when their children are at risk.
Sometimes we don’t set out to overeat or ignore our diets,
we simply lose our focus – the ability to stay aware
of our eating plan while we enjoy our food together with
conversation and special activities.

We can have fun and still Focus.
We need a way to hold continual awareness
in spite of what’s going on around us.
It’s tough, but it can be done.

Part of staying focused is:

Remember:  Frequently remind ourselves about our food-plan and goals.
Pull Focus back quickly:  When slipping into old patterns, intentionally renew focus.
Stay Alert: Mentally identify our individual emotions in the situation.

  It is important that we don’t “forget”
about our weight-loss or maintenance efforts,
so we need to develop a built-in awareness to help us
stay focused on what it takes to live with the weight we want.