A friend of mine (also a coach) asked me a very important question today.
To para phrase: “Mary Ellen, how do you square your no-added-sugar lifestyle, and your quit-sugar programs with the unhelpful ‘all-or-nothing’ thought pattern?”
Wow, this hit me over the head with the truth. In fact, I’ve been thinking about this disconnect for a while, even since the beginning of my dedicated “sugar free year” started in July 2021.
As a health coach, one of the things I help people identify is their all-or-nothing thinking (if they have this thought pattern) and how it could be a disservice to the consistency in their habit change toward a healthier lifestyle.
What is all-or-nothing thinking?
All-or-nothing thinking refers to thinking in extremes. You are either a success or a failure. Your performance was totally good or totally bad. If you are not perfect, then you are a disaster. This binary way of thinking does not account for shades of gray and can be responsible for a great deal of negative evaluations of yourself and others.
Who wants or needs negative evaluations of self or others? No one!
If you join a quit-sugar program, your aim is to not eat any added sugar. If you do eat some sugar, you may feel as if you “cheated” or were “bad”. With all-or-nothing thinking, we place unrealistic expectations on ourselves and set ourselves up for failure.
My friend was so right, and I am so grateful for her honest question. Saying ‘I don’t eat any added sugar’ is an all-or-nothing mentality, and perhaps unrealistic expectation.
My latest quit-sugar group clients had it right too– learn about added sugar from the group program, reduce added sugar in daily meals, make informed choices when shopping, at parties, or ordering at restaurants, but quit the dogma of NO added sugar, and be reasonable. This is success.
The 21-Day Quick Start Quit Sugar Group Program is a juicy title but quitting completely is not necessarily a healthy goal for some. In the first session of the program, all participants will have an opportunity to define their own goals for reducing and eliminating added sugar. You are in the driver’s seat with coach support.
I can’t wait to take this next journey with the new group and hope you can join us!
