Did you make it through Halloween without falling into the candy? If so, woo hoo! Way to go! If not—and you feel guilty about it—let it go. It’s not the end of the world. And the great news is you get a brand new day today to make new choices.

Often we can have “All or Nothing” thinking. That’s the belief that you have to eat and exercise perfectly, or you’ve failed.

It can lead to thoughts like:

“I just blew my diet on candy, so I might as well eat whatever I want until New Year’s because my diet is over.”

“I missed my workout, so there’s no point doing any more. I’ll start over on Monday.”

“I know I have that party coming up this week where I will be overeating, so I might as well eat whatever I want this week.”

How valid is that thinking? Is your diet really over just because you ate some candy? Does missing a workout mean you have to start over? Does an event where you will be overeating mean you can’t eat healthy the rest of the time?

You can challenge this kind of inaccurate thinking with questions like:

What evidence is there that this thought might not be true?

What is the effect of your believing that thought and what could be the effect of changing your thinking?

What would someone else say about what you did, or how successful you were?

You can also shift—almost retrain—your thoughts.

What would happen if you shifted your thinking after eating the candy to something like, “Wow, that wasn’t on my eating plan. But I enjoyed it, it’s over and done, and I’ll get back on track with a light and healthy dinner tonight.”

Let go of the need to be perfect. Yesterday was just one day in your hopefully very long life. What can you do today to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep making progress on your wellness journey?

Together we can do it!