What to Do When You Fall Off the Diet Wagon

It's happened to anyone who has ever been on a diet, and if it hasn't already, it will happen to you. So, what do you do when you fall off the diet wagon?

You're on a diet, you watch what you eat and following your plan, but, then it happens.

That fateful day when you just can't help yourself, due to weakness or matter of circumstance, you fall off the wagon and eat a bunch of stuff that just isn't part of  your diet regimen.

Super Bowl Sunday is a prime time for dieters to fall off the wagon. With all of those delicious snacks like Doritos, potato chips, brownies, cookies, pizza, wings, and ice cold beverages, it's bound to happen.

For starters, I would say, don't beat yourself up too much. For one thing, you're only human and for another, well, it's the Super Bowl for crying out loud. It's the biggest sporting event of the year. You are entitled to have a little fun and enjoy some of the food that comes with watching the big game.

Hopefully, you didn't over indulge, but simply ate stuff that you wouldn't normally partake in, without great feelings of guilt.

If you did, I would say to you, so what? It's one day and a special one at that. It will be okay.

Your diet entails several weeks or months of hard work, persistence, and determination. One day doesn't ruin everything. The main thing is that you get back on track right away.

Avoid the pitfall of thinking "Well, I've blown it. I might as well eat whatever I want now."

The fact is you haven't "blown" it. You've given yourself a treat -- a reward for all your sacrifice so far. You deserve it. Don't feel bad about it. Now, just get back to it and skip stepping on the scales this week.

One thing that motivates me on my diet is not wanting to have all of my efforts and self-denial be for nought. I don't want to lose all of the ground I have gained toward reaching my weight loss goal. That really helps me on a daily basis when I am tempted to stray.

For the Super Bowl, I did buy some lower-fat snacks like baked wheat things and baked Lays. But, honestly, I couldn't say no to the nacho cheese  Doritos. Fortunately, I didn't half a bag or anything -which is pretty easy to do. I had to try a brownie --and I did have a second sandwich -- but they were small. Really they were!

It was enjoyable, but now, it's time to get back into it and be serious about the eating plan -- as well as the  daily exercise routine. The next big challenge comes on Valentine's weekend so start thinking about a strategy that can keep you on track to your weight loss goals.