You’re in your routine.
You’re eating regular meals. Maybe you’re still restricting, maybe not. But all is going well, until you receive a message asking you to join friends for dinner in a couple of days.
In an instant, you freak out.
Your mind immediately starts to go crazy with thoughts about calories, not finding the right meal, binging, alcohol, losing control, not knowing how to deal, feeling bloated, fat, being thrown out of your comfort zone, etc. .
You think about declining the offer. You almost want to reply with no, but then you remember that you’ve made a promise to yourself, a promise not to hide anymore, a promise to live your life to the full instead of living to look a certain way.
So, you say yes, but your anxiety increases by the hour.
What do you do?
Hold your priorities close to your heart
What do you want your priorities to be? Do you want to break free or do you want to stay stuck? How about your commitment to your children, your new life, your partner? Do you want to change or not?
Nobody said that this was going to be easy and that you’d breeze through it without any growing pains. Nobody said that there wouldn’t be any battles to fight or hills to climb, but this is your time and this is your chance to rise above the fears you’ve been buying into for such a long time.
This is your time to practice what you’ve always wanted to have: freedom.
Confide in a friend who’s coming along
It’s easier to “get through the evening” when you’re not alone. Chances are that one of your friends will understand or at least empathize and she’ll be there when you feel like drowning.
Don’t be ashamed of asking for help, love. This is a biggie and it’s totally fine to have a helping hand when you’re going through this change that’ll impact your entire life.
Wear something comfortable
I strongly believe that it is crucial to choose your “outfit” wisely on these occasions.
It’s often our clothes that make us either feel sexy and free or breathless and ugly. When you go out, wear something that makes you feel both completely comfortable and at the same time special and treasured.
This will make a massive difference in the way you behave and feel.
Remember that your body won’t blow up because of one dinner
So, the biggest fear here is quite obviously that you’re going to gain 50 pounds in one night and that you’ll come home disgusted with yourself and will never be able to lose the weight, right?
Well, it’s never going to happen. It just won’t. One tiny dinner won’t hurt your body. And even two innocent dinners a week won’t do anything close to what you’re scared of. So, you can simply let go of this fear as this will not happen. It won’t.
Write yourself a note
Before you leave for dinner, write down a note of how you want to feel, why this matters to you and what you need to remember throughout the evening.
Make this note really personal and poignant and remember your priorities that you’ve stated above.
Have this note with you the entire night – you don’t have to read it if you don’t need to, but just knowing that it’s there, will help you to feel confident and taken care of.
Go
There’s nothing better than real-life practice to overcome your fears of undoing your routine.
Don’t get me wrong, routines are great, especially at the beginning of your time without dieting, but there also have to be some breaks in this routine that will help you to grow into the person you want to be.
So, take a deep, long breath, brace yourself and go.
Allow yourself to have a good time
So, here’s the thing: our fear of doing something that feels too “out there” is often a manifestation of our belief that either we’re not worthy of being like everyone else or of being too perfect to be like everyone else (Hellooo Ego Mind!).
But if you hold yourself to much, much higher standards or if you keep yourself small, you’ll never break free. So, instead consciously allow yourself to have a good time and enjoy yourself. Allow yourself to be like everyone else.
Say it out loud at least three times before you leave and remember it throughout the night. Maybe even add it to your note.
Celebrate yourself
Here’s the best part: after you’ve gone out for dinner and (hopefully) had a good time, celebrate yourself big time. Don’t just say: Oh well, I’ve done it. Not a biggie.
Be proud of yourself and pat yourself on your back. You matter. Your progress matters and you can even journal about how you felt and why you’ll do it again.
Give yourself credit for defying your fears.
Ready to challenge your fears even more? Let’s get going. Book your first coaching session now and allow your life to never be the same again.
