If you are like me, you are a perfectionist. You try to get 100% involved in everything you do and do your best no matter if it is business, sports, school or any aspect of your life. After starting the Eating for Energy Program, I had the chance to apply this philosophy to my nutrition and my diet, but found myself discovering another aspect of my personality that I had not realize.

Just as much as I go out of my way to give the best in me I found myself using an all in or all out mentality to my diet. The meaning of this is that I was saying to myself, if I am not eating perfectly then I might as well not eat good at all.

Well, this is the part in where many of you will see yourself reflected. How many times have you ruined a whole week of healthy eating, just because you had some cake at the office on Wednesday and decided to succumb into craving for the rest of the week? Well, this is exactly what I found myself doing, If I had just a piece of red meat at lunch then it seem reasonable to repeat that at dinner time and maybe add some french-fries or ice cream to top it off. Worst-case scenario, this type of behavior would extend to the rest of the week or month.  During all this process the mantra that kept repeating in my mind was, “ what’s the case of eating healthy today if I already put something unhealthy in my body”

Thankfully, I was able to spot this erroneous and self-destructive behavior. I was also able to understand why was this happening and how to fix it. And now, I want to share my realizations in some easy steps that you can fallow to stop this behavior forever.

1. Relax: One of the things I realize is that my perfectionism was creating lots of stress and was making me look at little slips like mayor setbacks. So, the first thing to do is to relax and understand that if you slip in one meal is not the end of the world. If you need prove just think about this, one lunch is less than 4 % of your week of meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and even less if you eat the recommended 5-6 times per day. So, if you are sticking to your plan 80% of the time one or two slips along the way will not undermine your nutrition.
2. 2. Understand that Health is a process: Healthy living is a never-ending process, is not about your last meal but about your next meal. Is not about your last bite but your next one. So, if you find yourself eating cheeseburgers and fries for lunch, you do not have to wait until the next week to eat healthy because is the next meal that counts. Remember, your body is designed to heal itself and provide energy 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, so anytime is the right time to eat healthy no matter what happened in the past.

3. 3. Finally, enjoy: The best part of eating healthy is that you can afford to slip one or twice every once in a while (but with time you will not feel the need to succumb to your cravings any more). So, next time your friends invite you for some beer and nachos relax and enjoy. It will do your body a lot of good and it will help you to get back on track on your next meal

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