Picture this. You are late to work one day. Instead of getting your butt into your office, buckling down, and getting to work, you submit your resignation letter. Or how about this one? Your kid, who is usually prepared and focused and engaged at school, has an off day and gets a low grade on a project because he just couldn’t get it together. You decide your kid should just never go back to school. Like, ever.
Any reasonable person would read these examples and know immediately that the reaction to the slight setback was WAY out of proportion to the misstep. When you spill some tea on the kitchen floor, you don’t burn the whole house down. When you fall out of a yoga pose, you don’t feed your mat into the paper shredder.
No. You give yourself grace. You allow yourself space to screw up. You do not expect perfection from your loved ones or, in many cases, from yourself. You let yourself off the hook for small transgressions. You give yourself a do-over.
If you are familiar with the game of golf, you have probably heard of a mulligan. Not sanctioned officially by the rules, a mulligan is an allowance for a missed swing, shot into the water, or any other whoopsie daisy. It is “a second chance to perform an action, usually, after the first chance went wrong through bad luck or a blunder (Wikipedia). And you deserve a mulligan, too.
Treating Ourselves with Compassion and Understanding
We give our loved ones a nearly endless supply of do-overs. We extend ourselves the same freedom to try again in countless areas of our lives, too. We recognize that they, and we, are human. We are flawed and prone to mishaps. And we all deserve second (or tenth!) chances.
Here’s the thing, though. So many women we have coached and worked with over the years do not grant themselves any do-overs when it comes to their nutrition or weight loss protocols. If they slip up one single time…eating the gluten that wrecks their system or having a piece of cake at the birthday party or heck, busting open a bag of Funyuns and not stopping until the last onion-flavored crumb is gone…they say eff this and throw the whole program into the proverbial trash bin.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we not grant ourselves the same understanding, compassion, empathy, and grace that we would extend our partner, friend, or even a stranger on the street? When it comes to nutrition protocols and weight loss, women are overly harsh with themselves. They are quick to wipe out all the good they have done if they suffer even a singular setback. That’s gotta stop.
One Mess Up Doesn’t Wipe Away All the Work
Falling off your program protocol does not discredit all the other times you stayed with it! Striving to reach your ideal weight does not require you to be perfect. In life, we allow ourselves do-overs when things don’t go as planned. Nutrition protocols should be given the same clemency.
At Whole Woman Health, we believe that all women deserve to take a mulligan. Hell, take a hundred of them if needed.
Here’s why.
💫All the work you have done is not undone because you slip up.
💫You deserve to reach your goal no matter how many side roads you take along the way.
💫You are a human and humans make mistakes.
💫Those mistakes do not define you.
If we can adopt the mulligan approach, seeing our slips ups for what they are–not an excuse, not a reason to let ourselves off the hook permanently–but rather just a blunder, we can treat ourselves with the same compassion, forgiveness, and empathy that we extend to others. AND, we can continue getting closer to accomplishing whatever it is we set out to achieve.
Benefits of Giving Yourself a Do Over
When you refuse yourself a do over, you are essentially holding a grudge against yourself. Holiday time is no time to get all grinchy with yourself. Grudges are seriously bad for your well-being because they cause distress. You have got to let yourself off the hook and move forward.
There are tons of ways you stand to benefit from giving yourself a do-over. This can apply to your nutrition protocols and weight loss or any other area in life where you went off course but don’t want to throw the set of clubs in the pond and call it quits for good.
If you hoover the pecan pie, in entirety, in a holiday-infused haze of debauchery, giving yourself a do-over is truly the gift that will keep on giving, this holiday season and well beyond. When you give yourself as many chances as you need to get things right, you also:
💫get the opportunity to practice forgiveness, leading to internal space and contentment
💫treat yourself the way you treat other people, like the golden rule turned inward
💫realize that some things are worth working towards, even when they don’t come easily the first time around
💫become more self-aware, able to live in the present moment rather than dwell on past mistakes or ruminate on future worries
💫improve your self-esteem by deeming yourself worthy of another chance
💫have a chance to face the fear of failure and persevere nonetheless
Exclusive Health Coaching in Denver
Whole Woman Health is the top health clinic for women in Denver and we are here to help you get back to your healthiest self. No matter how many slip-ups, setbacks, or side roads you need, we can help you stay on the (sometimes winding) road to ideal nutrition and weight.
Other weight loss programs in Denver fail to focus on the foundational aspects that get you feeling better without fad diets. It all starts with you and the relationship you have with your mind and body.
We are a team of nutritionists and life coaches in Denver offering a weight loss program exclusively for women called The SHED. If you are ready to invest in getting back to the best version of yourself, register today.