Did you enjoy the Thanksgiving meal? Or did you "survive" the Thanksgiving meal?
Approaching the day, were you reminding yourself: I will only eat this, I can’t eat that, I have to workout to enjoy the carb dense meal? During the day, did you find yourself saying “ah what-the-hell?” or “F it” I am eating another helping and two pieces of pie?
We’ve all been there. Did you know it’s actually a thing, the “what-the-hell effect”? And for me, I just shorten it and say “F it”. Some dieting researchers coined the term “what-the-hell” effect but honestly, I bet majority of us have told ourselves this about a variety of things; however, we mostly say it in regards to dieting and foods.
Let’s play with this idea that you are “on a diet”, you have placed some food rules on yourself to have “self-control” and meet a goal you have set. Now, you’re at your family’s holiday dinner watching movies eating the holiday cameral popcorn. You eat the portion you allow yourself but find yourself wanting more and you say “F it” the movie isn’t over and eat twice as much. The movie ends and the guilt and shame start. Now you regret it, the cycle of emotions you are feeling towards the reaction to your indulgence lead you to start rationalizing the behavior and you continue to say “F it” and then eat pie, cookies, and another piece of pie.
Again, we’ve all been there but did you know those actively restricting food intake will indulge more than those not restricting? Have you ever thought to yourself, “this year, I have no food rule- I am going to show up, enjoy a meal with my family, and see how the day goes”?
Well, if you haven’t and stick to your food rules, remember this: when the guilt and shame start to flood your emotions- Stop and acknowledge it. Recognize the “F it” perspective and then provide yourself with another perspective, such as, “dang it, I ate more than I planned.” Normalize that sometimes we as humans do that, you’re not the only one that oversteps their own food rules. Then lend yourself some self-compassion. You may find that lending yourself compassion and forgiveness may just trump the food rules in the first place.
Side note: food rules, especially the more rules you have, can only perpetuate the problem, which could lead to a string of “what-the-hell” effects.