We are going to assume you are currently trying to better your health. It could be through weight loss, healthy eating, blood sugar management, or it could be along the lines of disease prevention. No matter your objective, it is likely you are going to lapse. You are going to err, fall off track, digress, or anything else along those lines. And that is okay. It is normal; it happens to most of us. Progress is not linear, so it would be unrealistic to expect otherwise. What matters is not whether you make mistakes or not. Rather, it is how you react to a setback and more importantly, how you recover from it.

We are talking in general terms. But let us go over a practical example to illustrate the point…

Let us say you are trying to lower your blood sugar and lose weight, treat your Type 2 diabetes, or somewhere in between. Naturally, there is overlap between these goals, since they are interrelated by nature. By reducing your blood sugar you would be losing weight, and treating Type 2 diabetes almost always involves weight loss as well. As such, your methods will include…

• caloric restriction,
• exercise,
• healthy eating, and so forth.

While simple in theory, in practice there is plenty of work involved.

Controlling your calories is a necessary component of weight loss. As you will come to discover if you haven’t already, it is easier said than done. Planning your diet is one thing; eating well consistently is another. And you wouldn’t be alone if you struggle with motivation to exercise on a regular basis.

Essentially, lapses are inevitable. And they may cause you to return to old ways. Maybe even sooner than you expected. Of course, you are aware this takes you in the opposite direction of your goal. But in the heat of the moment, lapses are not worked through with logic.

If you are to recover from a slip and maintain your new positive habits, you must persevere. You must push on. When it gets tough, you must not quit. It may hurt your confidence to have slipped. If you had a weekend where you gave in to your worst cravings, you might feel awful once it is over, as you imagine having taken a few steps backwards. If you skipped the gym too many times, it might seem harder than ever to get back in there.

But remember you started somewhere, and you have made progress. So what if you made some mistakes? Get back to work and don’t focus on what is laid out ahead of you. Focus on what you can do today. When tomorrow comes, you will deal with it then. You will make a difference one day at a time because that is the way to make progress.

At the end of the day, one setback is harmless. The sooner you recover from it, the sooner you will realize this.

Source by Beverleigh H Piepers