Maybe an extreme?  But seriously though, it was Halloween weekend people, we all indulged a little and why shouldn’t we?  Isn’t that one of the perks of sticking to your routine on all of the other days?  It makes sense, but why is it so hard to accept that?  This morning I found myself believing the lie that if I indulged a little too much this weekend that my entire efforts up to that point had been a crap-shoot.  That’s when you need a good girlfriend to knock some sense into you!

This week I’m entering my 25th week of pregnancy.  I’ve made a major effort to not focus on the number on the scale going up, but rather to focus on the things that I’ve been doing for my body.  Just as a check-in, I’ve been weighing myself every 2-3 weeks.  So far it’s been a slow and steady gain…very healthy for mama and baby…until this weekend!  Between a family dinner, frozen pizzas and Halloween treats, drinking liters upon liters of water to combat the sudden increase in sodium intake, I shouldn’t have been surprised at the 4lbs increase on the scale this morning.  But that little devil of self-doubt reared her ugly head today shouting accusations of  my of lack of discipline over the weekend.

It took me a workout, healthy breakfast and venting session with my best friend to finally get my head on straight!  Firstly, a lot of the increase can be attributed to water retention, not all of it, but certainly some of it and I can feel the puffiness to prove it! Secondly, all it took was one weigh in for me to suddenly discredit myself for all of the GOOD things I’ve been doing for my body over the past 25 weeks!  How many of you struggle with this battle and suddenly fall victim to numbers on the scale after an off-week?  This can be a scary downward spiral leading to a complete crash and abandonment of all those fantastic things you were doing prior to seeing that arbitrary number on the scale.

As a side note, I believe the scale should be used as a general guide, it’s not 100% accurate due to things like water retention and muscle mass (to name a few), the best measure is always how you feel and how your clothes fit!  If the scale is sending you on an emotional roller coaster, causing you to obsess over a number, get rid of it and choose a more subjective way to measure. Our minds are very powerful and things that cause a negative mindset can be destructive to the good things we are doing!

So this morning I made the decision to come up with 3 simple go-to’s to squash this mindset before it has the chance to get the best of me again:

1.   Mindset Reminder: Stay consistent, not perfect!

This little reminder means helps me to be a lot kinder to myself when it comes to indulgence and feeling guilty.  I’m reminded that it’s okay to sit back and enjoy a few slices of pizza or Halloween candies. Indulge and enjoy knowing that those things are always going to be there, the box of Halloween candy we didn’t have the chance to give out doesn’t have to be nibbled on day in and day out.  It can sit in the cupboard available as an occasional treat.  In this mindset I aim to focus on the big rocks, the things I do daily that help to keep me on track rather than focusing on avoiding the things that get me off track.  Everything in moderation!

2.   Acknowledge my successes (and continue to build on them)

I will take time to reflect on the good things I did all week rather than the over-indulgences I enjoyed over the weekend or whenever.  Viewing those indulges as negative brings on feelings of guilt and failure..this is a slippery slope people!  Put them behind you and focus on building on the awesome things you did, like drinking water, eating a healthy breakfast, getting a great workout.  When you’re focusing on your healthy habits, and enjoying the occasional indulgence in moderation you’re less likely to over-indulge anyway because your body will be feeling satisfied!

3.   Immediately incorporate 3 of my top 5 tricks to stay on track  (sign up for my newsletter to find out what these are!)

It’s important to recognize that this is not a disciplinary action, but it serves to steer my mind away from what I think to be a failure and get myself up and running again.  These are my go-to’s and they are fail-safe because I know they work for me and my lifestyle if I stick to them on a regular basis!  I chose them!  So I know if I can at least nail 3 of them right away I can find my groove again.

There you have it.  Stop beating yourself up and start taking action this week!  It doesn’t need to be a clean sweep, just one or two things at a time and you will be surprised how amazing you feel by the end of the week.

Cheers to enjoying life’s little indulgences…don’t be lame!