How many times have we all promised ourselves to start eating in a more healthy way? And how many times have those plans lasted through the fistful of M&Ms?

Today, Girlfriend Guru Lisa McDaniel Brown, our health and nutrition expert, tells us she doesn’t always eat healthy either (whew! so glad to know we’re not alone). And she shares great tips for moving beyond our “oops!” to the next healthy meal.

I had it all planned out last night. I was going to eat really well today and my body was going to love me for it—whole grain cereal for breakfast, a nice salad for lunch, and chicken with some veggies for dinner. Then I woke up late, skipped breakfast, grabbed some pizza that was brought in at work for lunch (yeah! free food, and it smelled so good!), ate a few handfuls of leftover Halloween candy that is still ALL over the office, and when I got home, I was way too tired to cook dinner so I had cheese and crackers.

What happened to my healthy eating plan?!

Have you ever wished you could have back all the time and energy you have wasted thinking about food and how much weight you’d like to lose? We’ve all done it. And probably continue to do it. But, think about this— how often are you NICE to yourself and cut yourself some slack?

When you have “one of those days” remember these three things:

• I’m one meal away from eating great!

Your next meal or snack is right around the corner and it can be healthy and nutritious. Despite what you just ate that you wished you hadn’t….forgive yourself and move on.

• Watch your inner dialogue – be nice to yourself.

Girlfriend, we can be rough on ourselves. What is your inner dialogue saying to you? Are you telling yourself how fabulous you are? How much you love yourself and what a great person you are? Probably not, but you should! We all have so much to offer in this world and the size of our thighs has nothing to do with it.

• Slow down. Think before you eat.

Often I find myself overeating or making the wrong food choices when I’m in a hurry or when I’m not paying attention. Like Oprah said, “Live in the moment.” Be aware. Before you reach for another handful of candy or bag of chips, take a deep breath, slow down, and think. Why am I grabbing this food? Am I hungry? Or bored? Or thirsty? Answer truthfully and you will probably pass on that unhealthy snack.

Falling off the eating wagon isn’t the end of the world. It may feel like another failure but it’s not (there are really serious things happening in this world and the fact that I ate pizza at lunch today doesn’t qualify as one them).

With fast-paced, jam-packed, busy lives it’s difficult to plan ahead every day and it’s not realistic to have healthy food and snacks on hand at all times. Just do the best you can do—in other words, make the best food choice available in the moment. And be nice to yourself!

LISA MCDANIEL BROWN is a health and nutrition expert. Before blogging and speaking, Lisa was a broadcaster, PR/Marketing professional, and event planner with a degree in Communications. Her passion for health & well-being was nurtured from an early age – her father was a physician who specialized in weight control and longevity (and he’s still alive & thriving at age 97). Lisa grew up thinking everyone knew how to eat well and live their best life!

Add your girlfriend advice for eating healthy in the comments – please!

Thanks Lisa for sharing! We’re thankful for the generous sharing of women’s wisdom here on Girlfriendology. (Like in our NEW FREE eBook: Girlfriendology Guide to Holiday Girlfriend Advice.)

And, by the way, we LOVE guest blogs here at Girlfriendology. Have a great girlfriend story to tell? Want to celebrate your fabulous female friends? SHARE! (And, we also have Girlfriend Gurus – check that out to be featured on Girlfriendology!)

Tags: eating healthy, girlfriend guru, health and nutrition, healthy tips, Lisa McDaniel Brown, self forgiveness

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2011 at 9:01 am and is filed under Be a Better FRIEND, Girlfriend Gurus, Health and Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.