The black and white and all or none dieting is not the way to find long term success with weight loss. In fact, these are the issues that probably get people into trouble and should be pulled apart right from the get-go.

When people live in the state of ALL or NONE when considering their diet it opens the door to the feeling of stress, anxiety and even failure.

Ever suffer from stress eating or eating foods to bring you up when you are down? See the problem here? If you are an all or none dieter and we can assume sooner or later you will have a bad day off your diet the stress and feeling of failure will result in doing more harm as these feelings could lead to more eating.

People who lean into trying to obtain perfection in their food choices will fall prey to that mental game where you think, “well I just blew it so I may as well keep blowing my diet for now.”

How about instead of perfection aim for progression? With this in mind, there is the opportunity to participate in celebrations, social events, and more, while making well thought out choices as to whether or not it is time to opt-in or out of your plan…not your diet.

Choosing your time and place to eat something a bit less than healthy or something you know won’t help in the journey gives you an element of control. It is your choice. There is room for flexibility and some open decision making. You aren’t so confined to a “diet” if you break free from the Black and white // All or none mindset.

If all your life you have been an all or none professional dieter it may be time to try something new. It’ll take practice. You may slip into your old way of thinking at times…especially when you aren’t seeing the fast progress for the efforts.

The best advice is to remain calm, focused and determined to accept progression and not perfection. Allow for mistakes without beating yourself up over them and allow yourself to make choices. So much more rewarding and sustainable to be in that space.