I'm feeling like crap today, so I figured I would write about what to do when you feel like crap.
The first thing to realize is that it's normal to feel like crap sometimes. That may seem obvious when you think about it, but many of us unconsciously expect perfect linear progression toward our goal. When that doesn't happen, it's demotivating and we risk falling off track.
Instead, you can just plan for this kind of day to happen occasionally.
The first thing I tell myself is that it's okay to not be perfect today. If I really feel terrible, I might slip up a little. That's not a big deal if I fix it the next day.
That said, I also know that sticking to my goals will probably make me feel better and more confident, so there is a reason to stay on track anyway if I can. Because of that, I don't immediately assume that I should make today a "cheat" day or anything. I just do my best as always and try not to stress about being perfect.
Sometimes I feel bad because I feel like progress is slow, and sometimes it's not related to the diet. Either way, it's usually something to do with low self-confidence, and in these times it's helpful to think about how far I've come already. This both gives me a little more confidence and also helps me put my current feelings into perspective.
I've realized that writing down my feelings helps as well. Just literally writing down how I'm feeling, even if they aren't coherent sentences. In this case, I'm writing a whole blog post right now and It's making me feel better, but I also wrote out my feelings in a journal earlier this morning. I just let it all out - I allow myself to have a big pity-party and just type all the raw emotions out. Sometimes it just helps to type it, sometimes after looking at it I can see how silly some of the thoughts are (like, "I'm a complete failure" type stuff).
I've found that this kind of "bad day" usually only lasts a day. Of course there are other kinds of long-term issues like depression, but this kind of thing pretty much always blows over.
So really, you don't have to stress yourself out trying to "fix" the feeling - just allow yourself to feel bad and wait it out until tomorrow. Who knows, some days I bounce back and feel extra good the next day! But even if not, it's nice knowing I won't suffer forever.
It's funny, I actually do feel a bit better now after writing all that out. If you have any other tips you use to feel better, let me know below! (don't worry, I'm not going to sign you up for a list)