The “awfukits” are familiar to most of us. I’ve been a star pupil of the philosophy for years. It travels closely with that other motivation killer – “all or nothing-ism”.
You know the story. It’s mid-November and the holidays are looming. For us Canadians, this can start even earlier with our Thanskgiving being in October and then closely followed by Halloween. Depending on whether we are trying to find the mojo to start a new weight loss endeavour or we are already on one or maintaining a loss, we start to look at the upcoming holidays and plan how we are going to handle them. When they are far enough away, the prospect isn’t too daunting and we think we might just be able to stay true to our best intentions all season.
Most of us will hit a point where we find we don’t think we can stay *perfectly* on plan for the entire holidays though. Whether we just can’t bear to not eat something special, don’t want to offend Great Aunt Mildred who loves for everyone to rave over ther fudge, or just make a mistake and have that first bite of something we didn’t plan to eat, something happens and we aren’t going to be able to be *perfect*.
That’s often where the “awfukits” start. Well, I’ve blown it, might as well enjoy the pie as well as the fudge then. If I couldn’t get through my husband’s work Christmas party, I’ll never get through Christmas Day, I might as well eat the goodies my co-worker brought in to share with the office now. I’ll just enjoy Christmas and Boxing Day then. Oh, and won’t New Years be more fun if I’m not worried about avoiding goodies! I’ll get back to healthier eating in the New Year. And then suddenly all bets are off and any food and any amount of it is fair game from December 15th until the New Year.
What about the middle ground? Where is the self-preservation instinct to take care of yourself and do the least amount of damage? Come January 2nd or 3rd (we know the “awfukits” don’t recognize January 1st as the New Year, and often it only really starts on the first Monday), will you really have enjoyed your choices over the holidays? Or will you wish you’d held your indulgences to a couple of very specific items you love at your family Christmas celebration, maybe a glass of champagne at New Years and that *one* piece of Aunt Mildred fudge that really is worth the calories once a year and stayed on plan the other 95% of the time.
Which option will start your New Year off right?
Happy Holidays, everyone!
