Dealing With Self-Sabotage and Saboteurs!

No matter how much positive thinking you have, there are times when others seem like they are out to sabotage you – and sometimes, they are. Well intentioned though they may be, these people in your life are not going to be helpful to you in reaching your health goals. Your family and your friends want you to be healthy, but they might not be as ready for change as you are – and that’s going to cause a bit of conflict for a while. They’re going to want you to be your ‘old self,’ the one that ate the same things they still eat and the one that sits around with them as they watch movies.

But you know that you need to change in order to get yourself healthy. And if you aren’t getting support from these people in your life, you need some strategies for handling their sabotage so that you can still reach your goals.

They bring you foods that you don’t want to eat. Whether they just don’t know a lot about good nutrition or they simply want to show you love with food, you need to figure out what you’re going to do when you receive foods that you simply don’t want to eat because you’re trying to lose weight or you’re trying to lower your cholesterol levels.

Here are some tactful ways to deal with this situation:
• Thanks for the _________, but I’ve already eaten. Can I take some of
this home with me? (That way, you can dispose of it when they’re not
around.)
• Have a few small bites of the food and then push the rest away.
• Bring your own foods to dinners and parties and then share your meal
with them.
• Say that it looks delicious, but since you are watching your diet and
need to be careful about your eating, maybe the person can give you
the recipe so that you can make it in a more healthy way?

They may even ask why you aren’t eating along with the rest of the family/group. This attempt at ‘guilting’ you into eating is one that you will hear time and time again. People are often quite resistant to change, especially when someone changes for the better and they’re not doing the same thing for their bodies. While they aren’t trying to harm you or to make you feel bad, that’s how you are going to perceive their efforts to talk you into eating right. Instead, try to explain to them why you are watching what you are eating, bringing up the benefits that you are experiencing. Who knows? Maybe you will inspire them?

They may choose restaurants where your ‘old’ favourite foods will be served. This temptation scenario is often the most frustrating way of sabotaging your eating and health plans. You really want to eat along with everyone else, but you also want to stick with your plans. What to do?

If you know that you are going to this particular restaurant, you have several different options:

• Try to limit your eating for the rest of the day to make ‘room’ for your
meal at this restaurant
• Ask for your favourite foods to be prepared without extra oils or
butters.
• Find healthier dishes to try.

But while it’s simple to see other sabotaging you, much of the sabotage that you will encounter will come from YOU.

Here are some ways to make sure that you don’t sabotage your own plans:

• Don’t bring in foods that you might be tempted to eat that are not on
your eating plan.
• Try not to accept plans with people that will coax you to eat
unhealthily.
• Don’t let yourself get too hungry. Always have something in your
office or in your car to nibble on.
• If you find that you eat because of emotional reasons, try to do
something else to distract yourself until the hunger pang passes.

You can stick with your new goals. All you need to do is to prepare for those weak moments that everyone has from time to time.

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