Momentum Shift.
The idea of a momentum shift is critical in many areas of life, but none more so than choices regarding food, movement, etc. Here’s a fictional scenario to breakdown an opportunity for a useful momentum shift:
Bob is excited about making some modifications regarding food intake and his level of activity. He decides that he is going to limit his consumption of processed carbohydrates to 2x per week and walk 3x per week before work. On Thursday morning, after already using up his two processed carb tickets for the week, a birthday party for coworker Carol breaks out and 5 minutes in Bob is already 2 glazed donuts deep. Without a reminder of the possibility of a momentum shift, Bob says “forget it”, smashes a personal pizza for lunch, wings for dinner, and puts together an astonishingly bad string of food decisions that weekend.
The momentum shift reminder would have been useful after the donut indiscretion. Bob’s inner dialogue could have gone something like this:
(momentum shift reminder miracle)
“Okay I had two donuts. Not great, but I’ve actually made some great decisions this week. I can switch this up right now. I’ll go for a quick walk before lunch and have a quality meal afterwards. I’ll be back on track by dinner tonight.”
Double donut birthday party smash could have taken Bob down an unnecessarily rough path. Instead, he quickly pivoted, reminding himself that the donut decision was just one bad one sprinkled between many great ones that week, and that he could right the ship in that very moment.
People can create momentum shifts at ANY point in time. Every person will (and should) eat unhealthily once in a while - it’s normal, adds to the enjoyment of life, and it tastes good. The important thing is how you respond. You don’t have to let two donuts turn into a string of pizzas - it doesn’t need to.
Celebrate wins, forgive yourself for losses and move on quickly.
P.S. It’s important to note that a major component of the scenario outlined above is intelligent goal setting. That’s a topic for another post but one note to touch on briefly - many folks mistakenly take an all or nothing approach to their decision making regarding food, exercise, etc. Meaning, they “commit” to eating a certain way or training at a particular frequency that lacks balance and is unrealistic. As soon as they misstep, they immediately say “forget it”and often stay derailed until another all-in attempt sometime in the future. The key is creating structure with appropriate flexibility.