Have you ever had cake for breakfast or binged on a pint of ice cream…

And then felt totally guilty about eating it?

I have…more than once.

And in this post I’m going to share with you how to feel guilty about eating foods you know you shouldn’t.

The Curse of the What The Hell Effect

See whenever I would overeat something or eat something that I knew i shouldn’t have my typical response was,

“I already ate bad and ruined my diet today so what the hell!!!”

I then gave myself permission to eat whatever I wanted the rest of the day including more sugary junk.

Come to find out, I wasn’t alone.

There’s actually a real thing called the What the Hell Effect.

It’s that cycle where you eat something you know you shouldn’t and your brain rationalizes that you already screwed up so what-the-hell…

…you might as well just keep eating the cake or whatever junk you have in the house…

…and start over tomorrow.

The logic is that because you feel guilty or shameful about it, you keep eating more junk to make yourself feel better.

Moving Out Of This Negative Pattern

So how do you move out of this pattern?

The first step is to start paying attention to how you feel when you fall-of-the-wagon or slip up.

If you instantly start criticizing yourself this will only fuel your guilt and lead to more poor decisions.

That was totally me!

So how do you make it stop?

#1 – Be compassionate with yourself!

Next time you get off track (because you will…no one’s perfect) be compassionate with yourself.

Acknowledge your feelings.

You slipped up…and that’s ok!!!

You’re human and not the only person who’s done this before 🙂

Forgive yourself and move on.

It will be much easier to get right back on track with your next meal when you don’t spiral into negative emotions.

#2 – It also helps to think about what you would tell a friend who did the same.

We would never beat a friend up the way we beat up ourselves (ok well at least I sure hope not!)

So be compassionate with yourself the same way you would with your bestie.

Remind yourself that one slip up isn’t going to derail your progress.

Yes, you can get back on track with your next meal, your next snack!

You’re only one meal away from a better day!

It’s not that you won’t ever fall down…

…it’s what you decide to do after you fall that makes the difference.