Knowing when to hold and when to fold

It's been a busy day. Getting up early to go to work so I can get the work done that I was planning to do over the weekend but didn't.

But these days are common. It's nothing new to be busy. Yes, sometimes there's periods where we have less work and others where there's more to get done in a short space of time. However, lets face it, we're always going to be busy.

So is it an excuse or a valid reason for not eating as we know we should to achieve the things that we say we want to? Well...in my experience its both.

Sometimes, it really is an excuse. Afterall, if you really want to eat healthy you will. Even if the healthiest possible food isn't available, you'd just control how much of the healthiest food available you'd eat.

Sometimes, it's a reason. Sometimes it's perfectly understandable that you just grab whatever is available, you're tired and you just eat more than you should of less favourable foods.

Now back to the situation at hand. It's been a busy day. I got to the gym and felt my blood sugar levels drop. This is a different situation to be hungry. It's a sense of tiredness that feels as though you have absolutely no energy. Maybe its not a drop in blood sugar levels. I'm not a scientist or a doctor so I don't really know for sure, but what I do know is its a particular feeling.

I've pushed through it before and been perfectly fine. This time, I got to the gym, went to the vending machines and got a protein bar. I walked up to the changing rooms and felt the same.

I made the decision, that this is a time to fold. Of course, there's a variety of reasons which could have led to this decision and things that I might have been able to do to prevent it from happening in the first place.

So I drove to the shop, got a protein snack and then went to the local Tim Hortons for a coffee and a doughnut. And then another doughnut...

I'm not actually a fan of doughnuts and its quite rare that I eat them. I could have stopped myself but I didn't. I went for it, I enjoyed them both and you know what? I don't regret it. Not one bit.

That doesn't mean I want another one. When I get home, or more to the point when I get to my mother-in-law's tonight, I know she'll have made a load of delicious Indian food. I know I'll have some. But I won't stuff myself. I may have folded but that doesn't mean I'm out of the game. It doesn't mean I quit. It doesn't mean that this is free license to eat whatever I want today and tomorrow I'll start again. Because there is no start and there is not stop.

There's just a gradual improvement of my diet and dietary habits. Sometimes, there's food that I want but I say no and don't feel restricted because I know I need to eat within certain parameters and I know that deep down I don't really want whatever I'm craving. It's probably just an impulse or remnant of the old self rearing its ugly head. So then I hold off.

Sometimes, it's OK to fold and say yes to the impulse. It's OK. It's part of the journey of gradual improvement. The question is how often will you fold? Too often and you're back to square one.

So how do you know when to hold and when to fold? There's no right or wrong answer as far as I can see. It's just experience. The key is to make it less frequent and that might take time but keep at it and you'll get there. The need to fold will gradually become less and less and progress will be more and more.