PRO TALK
By Adee Cazayoux
THE SNOWBALL
EFFECT
WITH THE HOLIDAYS
COMING UP THERE ARE TONS OF
OPPORTUNITIES TO GET SUCKED
IN. HOPEFULLY THESE TIPS ON
HOW TO STAY MINDFUL WITH YOUR
CHOICES WILL HELP YOU AVOID
THE SNOWBALL EFFECT.
Progress does
not require perfec-
tion. One bad day of
eating doesn’t ruin
all of your prog-
ress. The real issue
arises when we turn
one instance into a
‘snowball’ of nega-
tive choices that
eventually derails
progress, or worse,
forms a bad habit.
Decrease your
chances of getting
out of control with
6 MUSCLE MEMORY
these tips to help
you identify when
you start creating
negative habits.
YOU MIGHT
BE SNOWBALLING IF:
n You are using one
choice to validate
another choice
n Your habit changes
are defined by a time-
line (I’ll start tomorrow,
Monday…)
n You tell yourself “If
I’m having one I may as
| DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019
well have another, and
another, and another”
n You view your diet
as an all or a nothing
operation
This all prob-
ably sounds pretty
familiar, huh? That’s
okay. These are all
incredibly com-
mon thoughts that
have the potential
to sabotage most
people’s diet and
mindset, but we've
got the plan so you
can get proactive
and prevent the
downward spiral.
LOOK AT AN EVENT
IN CONTEXT
On paper, a few
colds beers on a
Friday night doesn’t
hurt anyone, but
what happens from
there? If you know
that after you get
a little buzz, you’re
prone to tossing
back a few more
than you planned
for, which then
might turn into a
quick slice of pizza,
followed by hang-
over brunch, then it
might be important
to keep on the safe
side of sober. By
taking a step back
and seeing if there
is a distinct ‘ripple
behaviour’ after you
make one choice,
you can prevent
things from get-
ting blown out of
proportion.
ONE AND DONE
Dieting, espe-
cially if your goals
are achieved over
a longer timeline,
can feel endless. It
can be easy to get
caught up with the
idea that since we
have so far to go,
delaying progress
a little bit isn’t the
end of the world.
We’ve all had those
days when we need
a break and end
up eating some-
thing that might
not be in line with
our goals. Cue the
thought process of
the snowball effect:
since we’ve already
messed up, we
can just start fresh
tomorrow, on Mon-
day, or maybe after
we get back from
vacation. While we
don’t need to dwell
on one slip up, every
choice we make is
an opportunity to
get closer or further
from our goals.
COACH ADEE
CAZAYOUX
Adee is the founder
& CEO of Working
Against Gravity. Her
nutrition consulting
company consults with
about 2,000 clients
and has a waiting list of
about 3,000 clients.
FOCUS ON THE NOW
If you have an
off day, beating
yourself up won’t
solve the problem.
This isn’t a pass/fail
test. Dieters who
measure their suc-
cess by perfection
are more likely to
feel increased stress
about their food
choices and experi-
ence more burn
out. If you have an
off day or meal,
treat it as such. The
easier we can move
on from choices
that don’t support
us and learn from
them, the better off
we’ll be. Don’t let
a negative mental
aftershock keep you
from getting back
on track because
you feel you're
never going to be
able to do this or
lack self-discipline.
Focus on what you
have in your control
(pssst, it’s the pres-
ent), and use that to
your advantage!