Once something is done, it’s done. There is nothing you can do to undo it. There are, however, things you can do that’ll minimize the effects. In training, eating and life in general, people are always harping on the past. They’re always trying to undo some ish that already happened. Strategy: work on the here and now. Always keep moving forward.
Let’s say you ate something. Whatever you ate takes about an hour to start to digest. Once the digestive process starts, you begin to feel it’s impact and realize you made a grave mistake eating it. That’s right, diarrhea. Now, as you sit in agony pleading to the gods to undo your tragic mistake, saying you won’t mess up like this ever again, you know there is nothing you can do in that moment that will prevent you from erupting like a volcano. Tomorrow you won’t exercise like crazy to try to stop the violent bout of the runs you had today. This is because it’s already done. You ate this thing. It had its effect on your body. Now, it’s time to move on.
We understand this when we eat something that jacks us up pretty good. However, we don’t seem to understand this when we have a crazy weekend filled with wreaking havoc on a few BBQs and bars. Monday hits and we are like, OMG, I have to undo the weekend. We usually try to accomplish “undoing” the weekend by either exercising like a mad person to get rid of the “toxins,” or we just don’t eat. Neither of those options are healthy solutions and neither work to undo anything. Once it’s done, it’s done. Move on. Next weekend, just be. a little. better.
Now, there are a few things you can do to help minimize the effects when you don’t make the best choice. Life is for enjoying, not for feeling guilty.
One of the solutions that you can implement is to make the better choices more often than not. Throughout the week, month and year, have strategies in place that help you make the better decisions more often. Whether you’re preparing your meals for the week in advance or minimizing any alcoholic beverages throughout the week, especially if you tend to booze on weekends, these small changes will reward you over time.
Here are some tips, to get you on a better track:
· Try not to have any alcohol stored in your house or apartment.
· Set a goal to exercise 3-5 days per week and actually do so infinitely.
Another solution you can implement is to not freak out and try to undo the “damage”. You are not damaged, you don’t need to be fixed. You ate or drank some stuff that you wish you hadn’t. You’ll live. Life will go on. Get back on track and start to build some consistency with healthy habits again. “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labour of a spasmodic Hercules.” Whatever you do consistently over time will prevail. Getting back on track with the healthy habits you have in place is the best thing you can do after a day of going YOLO.
Reframe the way you view your choices. Instead of saying you made a bad choice, be kinder to yourself and say you didn’t make the best choice at the time, but next time you will do better. Feeling full of guilt and shame never helps. You think they would, but they don’t. They usually lead to repeating the same behaviors and feeling even worse about it every time you do. Eliminating these feelings can help you start to love yourself for who you are, meet you where you currently are, and help you move toward the direction you want to be. So, stop trying to undo or “fix” things and strive to just be better. Now move on!