Healthy Lifestyle Balance on Vacation

Decide what you want to do about alcohol.

Alcohol may lower self-control. If you drink, are you aware of the calories involved?

Try to balance rest with activity.

Look for ways to be active that you enjoy.

Irrational Beliefs and Challenges #11 of 13

Irrational Belief #11: People make me angry and drive me to overeating.

Challenges:

• People sometimes act poorly but I can choose to tell myself that I cannot control how they act, but can only control how I react.
• I can choose not to make myself angry at them and overeat.
• My anger and my overeating are unrelated. I can control my anger and control my eating.
• I can find other healthy things to do with my anger than eat.
• I can take care of myself and my healthy by remaining calm.

Behavior: Keep a log of incidents of anger caused by others, then note how you challenged your irrational belief and how you successfully managed your food plan following the incident.

Irrational Beliefs and Challenges #9 of 13

Irrational Belief #9: I’m hungry and if I don’t eat right now, it will never end and I won’t be able to stand it.

Challenges:

• If I don’t eat right now, I will continue to lose.
• This one extra food will not really make me feel any better, but it will directly delay my goal.
• The hunger I am feeling is a type of pain. It will fade if I can just wait a half hour. I’ll be able to make it.
• The grumbling in my stomach, the empty feelings and the cravings for food mean I am losing weight.
• This feeling is temporary, and if I can hold out just an hour or so it will be a major accomplishment!
• This is the most difficult effort I will ever have to make, and it’s worth the doing!
• What will it really do for me if I eat now? I will still want food but will have to work even harder to lose weight.
• How will I feel if I give in to the pain? (Think back to the previous times when you have given in, during other weight-loss attempts).
• Will my peers, friends and loved ones respect me if I give in to their sabotage or discouragement?
• How will I feel if I hold out a bit longer?
• If I’ve done it for a few days why can’t I do it for as long as it takes; how is now different?
• When I feel like this I will delay eating for 15 minutes and see if I still feel the same way after that time.
  

Behaviors: Practice these challenges when you feel this way and identify which ones work best for you.