When professional figure competitor Mari Kudla-Donnelly diets down for a show she sometimes “slips” and eats junk food. She says this is easy to do since she has a toddler and a husband who enjoy candies and cookies stashed in the cupboards. Yet Kudla-Donnelly does not consider herself as one having a huge amount of self-control when it comes to food.
Her secret for staying on track with her diet is simply not beating herself up when she overeats. She acknowledges having eaten the food and that that type of behavior will not permit her to attain her goals.
That’s it. No name calling, no promising to starve herself, no judgments, no guilt. In short, Kudla-Donnelly stays on track with her dieting goals, even after a binge, because she is not derailed by self-sabotage. She has mastered her ego. She refuses to respond emotionally to her world and her actions, but acts logically and in accordance with her overall goals.
Professional models even overeat while they are preparing for photo shoots and competitions. Do you think overeating throws them off track? No. Successful models have confidence in their ability to self-correct their behavior.
People are not suddenly graced with the ability to say “No” to food after they have been eating whatever they liked for years. Your body and especially your mouth resist this sudden change.
Your brain recalls how yummy that chocolate cakes tastes, it remembers that mocha with extra whip and it wants more. So what do you do? Train your body to crave other things like apples and oatmeal, while indulging in a little less cake and mochas.