Guilt ...

'Food, love, career, and mothers, the four major guilt groups.'
Cathy Guisewite

'oh I shouldn't have eaten that' ... moaning as I lick the last crumbs of Hob Nob off my lips... 'well its done now.. no point in worrying about it...' comes the advice from a skinny pal ... but its not that easy... Already the pangs of guilt, not hunger are in the pit of my stomach...

Lately I've find myself feeling guilty about lots of things... my career, failing to keep in touch with old friends, from not doing the housework, to not exercising, to losing weight..and also with food... that uncontrollable, miserable, ricocheting guilt about what I've eaten..

But what's the point of feeling bad? It doesn't appear to make me a better person, in fact it makes me more a fretful, unhappy one. So its time for a guilt detox!

Everyday we're bombarded with information about how to have the perfect body, lose 10lbs to that bikini body in 5 minutes, how to find your ideal man, maintain relationships and have a great career... and we think we can do it all... when we can't, it hits us.. I'm a failure, pass the biscuit tin! What's the point anyway....

The purpose of guilt is that we can fix things, that's HEALTHY guilt, but its pointless when there's nothing that can be fixed by it!



So how do we ease up on ourselves...

Firstly... ask yourself.. are you trying to live up to someone else's values? You might feel guilty about something you THINK you should do, rather than something you truely believe in! Its your life.. live by your rules..

Secondly - show yourself a little compassion... imagine a friend had just eaten that hob nob .... how would you react? You'd show a little empathy... 'its only a biscuit' ... no one put on a stone eating one Hob Nob! Guilt is a conceited emotion, because you think you should behave better than other people.. if you set your standards so high, you can only expect to fail and feel bad about yourself. How would you react if you went round to a friends house and they apologised for the mess? You'd realise they have a busy life with the hoovering and dusting coming last! You'd understand.. anyway you went to see THEM, so give yourself a break!

Lastly - remember we're all only human! No one is perfect! We make mistakes, we're fallible.. move along.. you can't change the past .. just focus on the here and now..


So stick that Hob Nob on the tracker... and here's to a guilt free week!