Are you a Jekyll and Hyde Dieter

Friday 29^th November 

Have you ever read Stevenson’s classic, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Good guy Dr Jekyll treating the sick and doing good deeds then at night he’d turn into the evil, out-of-control Mr Hyde. Well I’ve got to admit at times I feel like the diet version of them both, only this week, Wednesday morning I woke up feeling like I was ready to get on track and lose some weight, I spent the entire day in complete control—I was the perfect Jekyll, had a fantastic filling and healthy day and stayed on track,  yesterday however, it took all my strength to keep Hyde under control, I managed it just about!  However there have been many occasions when I have totally morphed into Hyde and attacked the kitchen cupboards or a bottle of wine, I’ve even stood in the kitchen eating slices of boiled ham and chunks of cheese straight out of the fridge.  

I think a lot of us have done or even still do this, we go from dieter to overeater within the blink of an eye, some do it on a daily basis, fab for the first half of the day, then once darkness looms we turn into a Hyde eating loony!  What you thought was easy to control in the morning feels impossible by tea time.  The Jekyll side of your diet personality just can’t keep up with your Hyde, that beast can do some serious damage in a really short space of time.

I find my Mr. Hyde seems to be able to take control far easier when I’m tired, stressed or rushed, that’s when I have to really notice my behaviour and thought patterns because it’s too easy for me to think ‘sod it’ and go party as Hyde!   Dr Jekyll’s the smug one who finds the good times easy enough, he soon disappears when times get hard! Mr Hyde’s also a bit of a hormonal bitch too, so much harder to cope with!

No wonder so many of us give up and let Hyde win, because that’s the easier option, I’m never letting Hyde win again, not long term anyway, I’ve been kicking him into touch for the last 9 years, my Dr Jekyll side has got stronger year on year, and I found that just admitting that both sides of me existed helped me enormously, I stopped trying to be the ‘perfect’ dieter, there’s no such thing! I then identified when I’m most likely to lapse and let Mr Hyde appear and I made sure Dr Jekyll was ready for him, I pinpointed my weaknesses, for example yesterday when I wanted to eat my own head, I acknowledged it was because I was rushed and tired and instead of turning to the chocolate/crisps/wine I had another bowl of beef stew and stuck with my F&H, I was so full I couldn’t possibly have eaten anything else!   Who am I kidding, I could’ve eaten more, especially of the wrong stuff, I could’ve cracked open a bottle of wine too, very easily but instead because I’d eaten plenty of good stuff I found it easier to resist and I had an early night instead.

It’s not always possible to ensure you don’t get stressed or hungry or tired so make sure you have your own strategies and tactics in place to help you deal.  Have a healthy snack in your glovebox or a ready meal to hand in the freezer, have some lower ProPointed treats for when you just fancy something nice, have a big pan of stew on the cooker for when you get in so you have food ready.  Don’t have a kitchen full of junk you have to resist – you most likely won’t be able to at certain times!

Don’t expect perfection, it’s impossible, it’s also boring!  Willpower doesn’t last, motivation has to be topped up regularly, focus on you ‘Wantivation’ and realise you are BeYOUtiful, make this journey as easy as possible for yourself.