Tara Ramachandra

Today, I had a bad eating day.

Today was my exception day – when I allow a meal that’s not normally part of my food plan.

I ate more than planned and by the end of the day I had labeled “bad”.

But remember nothing’s gone wrong here. The “bad” day was supposed to happen.

That’s something I’m learning. And what’s even better is that “bad” days can usually reveal a misconception about why we went off plan.

First, what is a “bad” day? That’s maybe my first learning from today.

What made it bad? Because I’m pretty sure what made mine bad isn’t the same as yours.

Scratch that “bad” day of eating and look exactly at what you ate.

So, for me I had 2 slices of pumpkin pie (instead of the planned 1) and then I had two pieces of chocolate.

Do you notice when it’s called a bad day there’s no room to clarify and you don’t get clarity? To understand or gain insight?

Bad could have been a lot of other things. But when I review it like that I can see what happened a lot clearly. I didn’t plan on lunch and so I ate the extra piece of pie.

Sometimes, we don’t want to look at the bad day because it brings up shame or hopelessness or disappointment. What I can tell you is that you can move forward a lot easier when you write of the facts of the “bad” day and gain insight into your decisions.

Because before I would have chalked up a “bad” eating day to being stressed. But today (it’s a Sunday) was a relaxing day. I was reading and enjoying the day with family and I wasn’t stressed.

What happened was I was genuinely hungry and ate another piece of pie instead of planning my lunch (like I would normally do).

Feeling stressed and not planning appropriately are completely two different issues. One is about managing emotions and the other is about planning. I had forgetten to plan in lunch and then I let my impulsive brain make a decision in the moment – which usually isn’t a decision for long-term well being.

The next time you find yourself calling it a “bad” eating day – write exactly what you ate. It’s easy to call it “bad” and dismiss it. But learning from it will help you have a lot less “bad” days ahead of you.