I had a conversation with one of my clients last week about her upcoming vacation with friends and family.
Her concern - and all of us come up against this in a variety of situations - was that she wouldn't be able to make choices that supported her goals because of the various activities and pressure from the people she’d be spending time with.
Many of us struggle with this. It can be a never-ending problem that torpedoes all your efforts, if YOU let it.
That’s right – YOU. The only way you’re going to let someone else dictate YOUR choices is because you feel you need to.
Examples – if someone you knew wanted you to do drugs with them, would you do it to make them happy?
We all have friends and/or know someone who smokes – it’s their own choice, as it should be – would you smoke to make them happy?
Let’s say you’re a recovering alcoholic and your “friend” says, “aw come on, one drink can’t hurt you!”
What if you had a peanut allergy? You go to Grandma’s house and she made peanut butter cookies – would you eat them to make her happy and risk a potential life-threatening response? OF COURSE you wouldn’t!
So why, why WHY, would you eat junk that does not support your health and wellness goals? Many reasons, but they boil down to this:
– You care more about making someone else happy than your own well-being. – You don’t believe food can actually harm you. YOU are responsible for what you put into your mouth. Take ownership. It’s not your responsibility to make other people comfortable for their choices. That’s their responsibility. You don’t need to be a jerk about it, or to be militant, just say no thank you and eat what supports YOU.