Why Do We Fall??

If you are a Batman fan, the answer to this questions is: "So that we can learn to pick ourselves up!"  I am the mother of two boys- both avid Batman fans, so this has become the saying in our home whenever something doesn't go "our way."

The Fall

Last night, I caved.  OH BOY!!  I went out with a friend.  I was tired and hungry.  We decided to get dinner and I had the "screw it" attitude.  You know the one.  I'm sure that we ALL have been there!  So, after sharing not one....not two.... but THREE appetizers AND an entree, AND a dessert, we were fat and happy!  Before you drop your jaw all the way to the ground, let me sum up. All of this food totaled 3 fried mozzarella  half of the potato chip nacho things, 3 pot stickers, one chicken fajita- no cheese or sour cream, another fajita (no tortilla) and about 1/3 of the brownie delight thing, and of course, 3 full glasses of water.  I regretted it THE SECOND that I walked out of TGI Fridays!  Interestingly enough, although I DID think about making better choices, I didn't care enough. THIS IS WHERE THE FALL HAPPENED!  Making the choices wasn't where I "fell off the band wagon."  I fell off WAY before I entered the restaurant when I let myself stop caring about my health.

3 Signs of the Fall

If you think back to every time that you have "fallen off of the weight loss band wagon," I would venture to say that these three things happened first.

1. Going too long between meals. This was FOR SURE the case for me yesterday.  I had spent the day cleaning the house and didn't want to "mess it up" by making food.

2. Allowing the "screw it" attitude inside.  I don't have a better way to put that.  But at some point, for some reason, you ONLY fall off if you have this attitude. This can stem from a number of reasons. Things like stress, weariness, or entitlement can contribute to this attitude. Have you ever felt like you DESERVED to give in to gluttony? Although we all deserve a "cheat day" every so often, we don't deserve to just turn off.  In fact, we deserve BETTER than that!

3. Bad grooming.  I know it sounds crazy, but have you noticed that you are more likely to give in to a craving if you look like crap?  If you feel good about how you look, it makes you aware of your body. You put effort into yourself and are less likely to ruin that.  I don't know about you, but I am WAY more likely to curl up and eat bad things when I am sitting in yoga pants vs fitting jeans. Also, when I dress nicely to go out, I eat slower (so that I don't spill on myself, but it is also healthier and has been proven to aid in weight loss,) but I am usually wearing clothes that are more fitting which doesn't allow for a "stuffed" feeling.

Effects of the Fall

Having a cheat day or a cheat meal is perfectly normal and encouraged.  HOWEVER, you need to watch out for a few things.

1. Increased drowsiness!  You will regret this!  Not only will your clothes not fit for the rest of the day (and possibly tomorrow) you will immediately feel the effects. You will be tired. What a fast way to ruin a night out.

2. Upset Stomach.  We all know how it feels to over eat.  Do you really like it?  Do you like your stomach hurting from being stretched too tight?  Do you like the cramping that comes from it?  NO!!!  Yet, this always happens, and we continue to allow it to happen.

3. Irritable Bowels.  Oh yeah!  It will happen!  Now comes the tossing and turning inside your bowels.  See, if you have been eating a healthy diet, a huge fall like this will have a huge effect, and it WON'T be pretty!

4. Heartburn.  A lot of people that are obese complain of heartburn anyway.  But I have noticed that I really only suffer from it when I have eaten "no no" foods!

When All is Said and Done, Get Back Up!

Look, it happens to everyone.  It is going to happen to you.  It will probably happen again.  I'm not going to sit here and say that you need to accept yourself and embrace your mistakes.  In fact, I hope that when it DOES happen again, it won't be as bad and that I will have learned something from THIS time.  I'm hoping to get to the point when "falling off" means that I had too much ice cream or sugar or that I gave in to a huge piece of cheesecake!  But I'm going to learn from THIS time.  IF I over eat again, it WON'T be like this. I'm better than that.  I DESERVE more.  My body DESERVES more!  And believe me, it let me know that! We are all learning and growing!(That seems to be my go-to statement lately.)  But in reality, we are human.


This morning, I was complaining of being over tired and still having an achy stomach.  My son asked me what was wrong.  I told him that I wasn't very good with my diet last night.  I explained what "falling off of the band wagon" meant and that it is an idiom (he learned about those yesterday so I took advantage of the teaching opportunity.) He just looked at me and said:

"Why do we fall, mom?" 

To which I replied:

"So that we can learn to pick ourselves up!"

And I can say that I DID learn from this fall, and I am back up!