Self-sabotaging? 4 Tips on how to stop it.

By: Joy McCarthy Holistic Nutritionist

Nearly everyday people tell me ways in which they’ve self-sabotaged. Heck, I’ve been guilty of it in the past more times than I would like to admit. You may not even realize what you are doing, but your actions speak the truth. Here are some examples:

- You’ve just started an amazing new way of eating and eliminated all junk food from your diet, two weeks in, you down a bag of Doritos over the course of an evening.

- On the flip side, you restrict yourself and prevent yourself from enjoying food because you are afraid it will make you fat. You are on the course to eating joyfully everyday, then you slip back to skimping, skipping and restricting for a day.

- You’ve started an amazing exercise routine, hired a trainer and then after your 5^th session you polish off a pint of ice cream, skip your next three workouts and then feel like you are back to square one.

- Then there’s relationships: You are in a great relationship and yet you look for everything wrong with it. You don’t trust that person, yet they give you no reason to feel otherwise.

- On the flip side, you know you are in a great relationship but find it hard to stay committed and look to everyone else with your grass-is-greener-syndrome.

- Everything is going right in your life and then you look for crises and obstacles to create a distraction and make your life difficult.

- You get a raise or a promotion and then think you can’t do it, you’re not good enough. This lack of confidence begins to show in your work.

- You’re a workaholic, take no time for family/friends, barely sleep, obsessed with success and end up catching pneumonia because you don’t take care of you.

Have I given you enough examples? All of these situations are examples of self-sabotage and we’ve all been there at some point throughout our lives, some more than others and then some people just keep repeating the same self-sabotaging ways over and over again.

S-T-O-P right there because YOU ARE WORTHY.

All this boils down to is your worthiness and your self-esteem.

Repeat after me:

I am worthy of health/good fortune/success/happiness/love/affection.

We’ve all done it, even I find it hard to admit that many times throughout my life I’ve inadvertently ruined something for myself because I didn’t think I was good enough, smart enough, worthy enough. I don’t think anyone is immune to these feelings, but if I can give you some tough love and strategies, it’s this:

1. Toss guilt out the window. If you down a bag of Doritos, don’t sulk the next day and decide that you might as well just continue eating crappy because there’s no turning back. Pffffftttt! That couldn’t be further from the truth. The sun comes up every single morning, so there’s no reason you can’t get up, dust off those Doritos crumbs from your superman undies and get back on track by eating a delicious and nutritious breakfast.

2. Tell someone. Honesty can be difficult, but admitting that you are doing something you know isn’t good for you (ie. Tell a close friend) can help you get back on track. Most people have no clue they are self-sabotaging until it’s too late. I see this a lot in relationships. You feel scared and embarrassed so you keep it bottled up inside. I can’t tell you how many times throughout my life I’ve put the tightest lid on what I was feeling only to have it backfire – ugh. I’ve learned the hard way. Communicate!

3. Do something good for you as often as possible. If you are the type of person that is constantly doing good for others all the time, you need some serious YOU time or you will burn out and this is self-sabotaging. Go to the movies by yourself, take up a new hobby, take a bath with Epsom salts and your fave essential oil, take time to make a beautiful candlelit dinner just for you, take a yoga class, go into the bedroom and tell the hubs or the wifey to look after the kids for an hour or two while you take a catnap.

4. Remind yourself of your goals every single day. Manifest it baby. Every morning or night say your goals aloud in front of the mirror to yourself. This works. If you want to achieve something, re-affirm, re-affirm, re-affirm. This builds self-confidence and reinforces this powerful message at both a subconscious and conscious level.

When you feel yourself getting down in the dumps and self-sabotaging remind yourself why you are eating well or exercising in the first place.

What are your strategies to prevent self-sabotage? I would love to hear them!

Want some awesome recipes to make sure you are eating as deliciously and healthfully (yes, the two do go together) as possible? Here’s my latest and greatest: