Where You Are Going Wrong With Your Restrictive Mindset

Disclaimer: This is a partnered post. Many aspects of modern life revolve around restrictions, with as many as 50% of women implementing restrictive diets while the rest of us put limits on everything from screen time to personal belongings. In a way it’s easy enough to see why – we want to live happier, healthier, lives. But, as is evidenced by the way that most of us fail to always stick within the boundaries that we set, these restrictive measures aren’t fit for purpose. 

In fact, far from freeing us from temptation, restrictive measures may make us more likely to engage in negative behaviours. Here, we’re going to discuss why that is, and the steps you can take to break the cycle at last. 

Avoiding temptation instead of addressing it

Restrictive measures are a plaster on a much deeper cut, expecting us to reduce behaviours without understanding why we engage in them in the first place. This is a problem considering that it’s only by understanding these actions that we can eliminate our desire to do them, or find healthier outlets that provide the same plus points.

For instance, by taking the time to consider why you browse on social media, you’re in the ideal position to find other ways to socialise or relax, removing your need for this behaviour in the first place instead of simply implementing ineffective change. 

Creating a Guilty Pleasure Mindset

Restrictions can also create a ‘guilty pleasure’ mindset that makes said behaviour more appealing than it would’ve been otherwise. This is why many dieters engage in ‘cheat days’ during which they eat far more unhealthy foods than they would’ve normally. In this way, strict restrictions add unnecessary fuel to the fire, often glamorising the behaviour they aim to eliminate and adding a sense of urgency to the mix.

A far healthier way of dealing with things would be to instead focus on eating in moderation, or turning to healthy treat alternatives like no-sugar drinks or custard protein powder. This way, we don’t leave anything temptingly off the table and instead create way more sustainable healthy habits.

Stopping you from meeting your needs

It’s important to act intuitively to maximise health and wellbeing, listening to what our bodies need in terms of fuel or entertainment at any time. Restrictive measures altogether remove this intuition, cramming us into a box of behaviour that, while healthy on a surface level, offers no room for personal preference or needs.

By comparison, removing restrictions and simply listening to what we need at any given time can create healthy habits that are 100% suited to us, ensuring in a far more natural way that we don’t indulge, and that we get to grips with the behaviours that we need to live our best lives moving forward.

It’s plain to see that, despite the best intentions, restrictive measures are rarely the right way to go about wellness or health in general. Rather, intuition, personal preference, and moderation are all guaranteed to serve you a lot better overall, and should always come out on time when you’re considering a major lifestyle overhaul.