just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there!--object permanence as metaphor for establishing a healthy mindset

Until about four months of age, babies' cognitive development is lacking such that they can't recognize that just because they do not see an object doesn't mean it no longer exists. In other words, when you show an infant a stuffed animal and then place it out of view, that object all of fails to exist in the baby's mind: it's as if it never was. As the child's cognitive abilities develop further, she begins to display what psychologists call object permanence, or the child's capacity to understand that the object still exists even though she cannot see it. This is the stage at which the child would look around in search of the missing object because she recognizes that it's been obscured, not destroyed. 

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I think that the single-biggest mindset obstacle that women face when trying to break the yo-yo diet and exercise-as-punishment cycle is the belief that a few overindulgences or missed workouts are enough to undo months or even years of consistency. Because we can't perceive the cumulative effect of our daily nutritional commitments and workouts, our tendency is to write them off as inconsequential when they're anything but. What we do over weeks, months and years, consistently and deliberately, is what propels us toward our goals and makes us fall in love with a healthy lifestyle. 

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Hence the theory of object permanence is a metaphor for how we must think of our healthy-lifestyle journey: just because we backslide on occasion and may gain some fat here and there (especially around the holidays) doesn't mean we've lost all the ground we've gained and we're back at square one. Also, just because we can't always perceive our gains doesn't mean they're not happening!!! Like children in their early stages of development, we should not be discouraged by what we don't see; rather, we should be intrigued and motivated to keep searching, keep seeking and keep learning. And above all, we should resist the urge to judge ourselves for anything regarding our physiques and trust that if our foundations are strong, we will move past this minor setback and be stronger on the other side.

Resist the urge to let perfect be the enemy of good. When we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, we acknowledge that it takes more than a few missed workouts or indulgent meals to undo all the work we've done.