FitMe Confessions: Learning To Let Go

I like to eat unhealthy food sometimes. Ok, more like a lot of the time.

While I am pretty consistent when it comes to exercising, it’s never been easy for me to suppress the urge to eat something that I know tastes good but is not in the best interest of my health. I brake for McDonald’s. Pizza Hut has an app, and I know how to use it. And I have the utmost weakness for any food that rhymes with “eatza” or “machos.”

It used to be the case that gorging myself on something unhealthy would send me into a shame spiral. The good intentions and hopes that accompanied joining a new gym quickly dissipated into a membership that I hadn’t used in months because of overwhelming sense of guilt that I felt from polishing off a large pizza, the last third of which I didn’t even particularly enjoy, but darn it I’m not a quitter.

I noticed that, like myself, many people tend to fall prey to this All Or Nothing mentality; we’re either working out consistently and eating healthily, or we’re not (and it’s usually the latter). That first or second missed workout or maybe surrendering ourselves to a value meal (ALWAYS super-sized) obliterates the will to continue with the healthy changes we’ve made. There’s usually some goal (or unattainable ideal) for which we’re striving that it seems like we’ll never be able to reach. Not with our lack of discipline.

But our goal shouldn’t be perfection. Our goal should be improvement. Perfection is unattainable, but there’s always room for improvement. Improvement also allows leeway for the inevitable backslide we experience when making major changes in our lives.

Even with improvement as our goal, we’re still probably going to feel a little guilt about that late-night taco run. Well, I’ve found a method that allows me to let go of that guilt. It’s called the FitMe Confession.

Here’s how the FitMe Confession works: Whenever I’m at FitMe and about to start my workout, I check in at FitMe on Facebook, and in my check-in, I confess to whatever unhealthy food indiscretion of which I’m most recently guilty.

It may seem unlikely, but my admission brings me freedom and support. My weakness for food is no longer in the shadows, so there’s nothing to hide. And the likes and comments from my Facebook friends evince that I’m not the only person who deals with these cravings.

So the next time that you’re feeling bad about something that you ate (or drank!), head to your health club of choice and confess. My chosen outlet is Facebook, but in addition to your social media outlet of choice (#fitmeconfessions), you can confess to your workout partner, your personal trainer, or maybe even a friendly health club employee like myself. Odds are they can relate!

Make your confession at #fitmeconfessions and post those pictures of that meal that got to you.