Letting yourself off the hook

I was reading something yesterday- actually I've been reading a lot of different somethings and I came across this thought. If you get pulled over by the police and get a ticket for speeding do you decide that you've already blown your perfect record for the day. Do you go on a crazy driving spree through the city, breaking every law along the way?

THEN WHY DO WE DO THAT WITH DIETS??? We can be going along minding our own business, eating healthy, getting more exercise and then BAM- chocolate cake (or cheeseburger, fried chicken..name your weakness). Then we do the stupidest thing ever...we decide that since we have already failed we might as well eat all of the other stuff we have been craving. Might as well eat like an idiot for the next few meals/days/weeks. We beat ourselves up for not keeping our "perfect record" when rationally that just doesn't make any sense. I am as guilty as they come but I have got to learn to let myself off the hook. I want to be healthy but I sure don't want to spend the rest of my life thinking about what I've eaten and what I am going to eat.