How to Stop Self Sabotaging

Rosie
Jan 28, 2023
3 min read

How many of us stay on track with our diet and exercise regimes from Monday to Friday, only to go completely overboard on the weekend and negate all the work we put in earlier in the week?

You're not alone in this. It's so common and happens to so many of us.

We all do things we know aren’t good for us, even though we are fully aware we shouldn’t do them, the devil on our shoulder tells us to go ahead and do it anyway.

So, how do we stop self-sabotage, follow these tips to help you:

Be Realistic and Sustainable

You've definitely made the best first step with this by joining Happy Healthy & Rosie We need to follow a plan that can be sustained over a long period of time.

More often than not people will follow a really restrictive diet and perform extremely intense exercise throughout the week. By the time the weekend rolls along people are exhausted and completely depleted, no wonder they binge on everything and anything.

Instead of taking things to the extreme, eat the Rosie meals and follow the workouts 3-4 days per week. You don't need to stop drinking alcohol, restrict to a 1,000 calorie limit or exercise every day to get results.

This is a long-term lifestyle change, so it needs to be sustainable. That way you won’t feel completely wiped out, and you’re less likely to sabotage your progress.

Recognise Self-Sabotage

Sometimes, we don’t even realise what we’re doing is sabotaging our development. Again, going back to the example above, some people have a food binge at the weekend and struggle to understand why they’re not losing weight.

Recognising actions that sabotage your goals makes you think more carefully about the implications your actions are having on your goals. I know this can be different for those who struggle with Emotional Eating, so definitely check out this section on the app.

Positive Self-Talk

Recognising self-sabotaging isn’t always enough. During periods of self-sabotage, we often talk negatively to ourselves. When we have an episode of overeating we rarely tell ourselves we deserve it.

We often tell ourselves we’re not good enough, or we don’t deserve to be healthy. Before we enter self-sabotage have a little talk with yourself, tell yourself you deserve better, tell yourself you are worthy. Remove the shame. When you use positive self-talk you create positive behaviours and thoughts.

The Affirmations section of the site is great for this. You don't always have to completely agree with the affirmations that you state. But by saying them out loud on a regular basis will definitely help with telling your sub-conscious mind this - which in turn changes your mindset and the way you think of yourself.

The mind works in mysterious ways, and you will eventually believe the statements you are saying.

Remove Triggers

Going back to the example of overeating, because it is so common in a person's weight loss journey, we will often be triggered into overeating, it rarely just happens for no reason.

We will often overeat because something has caused us to not feel worthy. A common trigger for this is social media. In the evening, we have some downtime to scroll through our social media.

When we are on a weight loss journey, it is common to follow lots of fitness accounts. While they can be handy for motivation, they often show an image we think is a million miles away from our current physiques.

We notice how far we have to go and throw in the towel. So, if social media is your trigger, unfollow triggering accounts or don’t use social media when you are in a position to self-sabotage. After all, comparison is the thief of joy.

Triggers can take form in a range of things, it is important to determine what triggers your personal self-sabotage.