With the Tortoise Diet Method

I often debate with myself about which is the most important of the 12 steps of the Tortoise Diet Method. I find it depends where I am in life at the time. So right now, my favourite step, and one which distinguished this Method from so many others is, Guideline Number 12. Which is to Stay in the Race.

The reason Staying in the Race is important is because it is a life law that whenever we attempt to make changes for good in our lives, life has a funny way of tripping us up. In this case, I got sick and getting outside and exercising was not what I was up to doing. Not everything in our life goes according to plan; routines are changed, accidents happen, life happens. It interrupts our best intentions and if you have been working hard to reach a weight or wellbeing goal, it can be easy to fall off the wagon.

Most of us – and I certainly have – have developed a pattern where we metaphorically beat ourselves up when this happens. Those long-ingrained voices in our heads begin their chorus of berating us for being “fat, lazy, never sticking to anything”, or whatever the voices in your head repeat to you. Once you realise that getting sick or getting out of routine is just part of life, then we can stop catastrophising it, stop with the self-abuse and just calmly get back into the race.

So today I dragged my body out there for a walk after weeks of illness with the flu which came and went, came and went, leaving me feeling low, listless and highly unmotivated I still didn’t really feel like it and my muscles creaked and groaned and complained but I did it. It was not a big or strenuous walk but I moved my body and breathed some good country air- and by the time I got back – my attitude had changed. There is nothing like a bit of fresh air and exercise to lift the mood and change the perspective.

The important thing to remember is not to be like the Hare and rush straight back into mad exercising, but just get out there and get back into the saddle so to speak. Begin another cycle of habit building and take another little walk tomorrow, the next day and before long I know I will be back on track.

So often, part of the damage done by years of dieting is this ingrained sense of failure we have. And the deep hidden belief that this perceived “failure” is somehow permanent. Its not. Every day is an opportunity to get out there and make the sort of changes that can have long term positive consequences for us. They don’t even need to be big changes – in fact I prefer small changes that we are more likely to do and do them every day.

So my thought for you today is to remind and encourage you to stay the course. This is your life now – keep going on the right track, slowly building the sort of life you want by taking the right sort of steps daily. And most important of all, don’t be put off when life interferes – because it always will. Accept that as a “given” and just calmly go back to doing what works.