I kept promising to eat more tomorrow

Every night I made the same promise. At the end of another day that had not gone the way I wanted, I would tell myself that tomorrow I would eat more and be consistent. Then I would fall asleep feeling accomplished from the plan alone.

I was counting on tomorrow to be more disciplined than today. That let me feel responsible at night without changing anything. I would wake up, the day would pass as usual, and by evening I was making the same promise again almost word for word.

I never actually started on those tomorrows. It took me a long time to see why: I kept moving the start date66 kcal. Every night I had a new reason that today had not been the right day. The reasons changed, but the conclusion stayed the same. Whatever had happened by evening, today was off the table, and tomorrow remained the day I would finally be consistent.

Saying today instead

I cannot point to one dramatic moment that changed this. At some point I started saying today instead. That did not mean fixing everything before midnight. Most of the time it meant adding one extra snack.

One snack does not sound like much, and by itself it is not much. Completing it interrupted the habit of pushing everything to tomorrow. A small action I finished that day replaced the detailed plans I used to make at night.

I still catch myself some nights starting to plan tomorrow's perfect eating day. When I notice that, I try to decide what the today version would be. Sometimes it is just one more snack before the day ends, so I go have the snack.