I’m not proud to say that, but I think it’s important to share with you in case you do it too. The truth is (almost) everybody overeats sometimes.

Chances are, I’m going to overeat cookies (or some other festive food) at least one time between today and December 25th. I can’t tell you the exact reason it will happen right now, since I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’m 100% sure that it will happen.

I will leave cookies sitting on the counter, where I’ll mindlessly eat one every time I walk through the kitchen, until they’re gone.

OR

I’ll have an alcoholic beverage (or two) and lose track of my full-receptor until I feel uncomfortably full.

OR

Something will taste sooooooooo good that I will eat past-full, just because it’s tastes soooooooooo good.

In a perfect world, I’d never do any of these things, but the truth is, MOST people do all of these things, sometimes. I am one of those people.

Before I learned how to live a happy, healthy I’mperfect Life, any one of these scenarios would send me into a binge spiral.

I’d beat myself up with regret, guilt, and shame, feel like crap about myself for failing again, and then…I’d do it all over again.

But guess what?! I don’t do that anymore. Yes, sometimes I overeat, but I haven’t found myself in a binge cycle in almost 10 years!

I have learned how to manage overeating triggers, on the front end, which drastically reduced how often I overeat, but when it *does* happen, I follow rule #1 for living a Happy, Healthy I’mperfect Life: Forgive Yourself, Always.

This simple act of forgiveness allows me to prevent the downward binge spiral that’s full of self-loathing and sabotage, which used to control me.

I can take responsibility, identify what happened, and choose differently next time– at least most of the time.

Rather than beating myself up for eating too much, then hating myself for “failing” and saying “eff it!” and proceed to abuse myself with more negative talk and more food– I forgive myself and move on.

Overeating happens to the healthiest of people. And while it isn’t ideal, it isn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem is what happens next.

So try it!

The next time you overeat (or find yourself stuck in a binge spiral) I encourage you to follow rule number one (Forgive Yourself Always) and see how it works for you.

It will take some practice, but with time, I promise it will get easier and more effective.