It’s ALL or NOTHING!

I've said before that I have such all or nothing thinking.

I have no doubt that some of this stubborn and rigid way of thinking is partially responsible for the success I had in losing the 200+ pounds I lost.

But in the past few days I have been reflecting on that mindset and I'm also seeing how it gets me into trouble.

Here's some of the thoughts i have.

• You MUST run at least 25 miles per week or you are not a real runner.
• When you run, you have to go at least 6 miles or you might as well not run at all.
• You HAVE TO weigh less then 125 pounds or you might as well be obese.
• If you do something different than what you planned - either exercise or food wise - you have failed.

And the BIG ONE - that gets me in the most trouble is this belief:

• If you eat something "bad" then you have ruined the entire day, so you might as well say “fuck it” and just eat like shit the rest of the day.

That one, my friends, is very dangerous for me.  Because - literally - eating something as small as 1 Hershey's chocolate kiss is labeled "bad".  Although a Kiss might not be the best choice, 1 of them is a small drop in the bucket as far as calories go and does not have to ruin a whole day. 

So I have been making an effort to be more grey in my thinking instead of so black and white.  It is so hard for me!

But I have been saying to myself that I don’t HAVE TO do anything.  15 minutes of exercise is better then NO exercise.  And making BETTER food choices is than throwing a day away because of one small bad choice!

Do any of you struggle with this too?