Goal: to be an eating ninja, to stick to my plan and not be swayed by outside influence.
Loved: This week wasn’t all that hard for me, I think because I’ve sort of been doing it all along. I’ve been cognizant of temptations, I’ve been eating foods from home almost exclusively — I think the only thing I’ve bought to-go all month has been one coffee from Starbucks. However, this week was easy because I was home a lot: I’d taken one day off work, worked at home one day because a snowstorm caused transport problems, and didn’t feel well one day.
Hated: I hated seeing how many temptations are around me all the time. It’s as though they lie in wait until you are vulnerable — hungry, tired, emotional — and then they are always there for you to grab quickly. Ubiquity as marketing.
Learned: I reaffirmed something I learned in Week 1, which is that being full on healthy food is the best protection against temptation. Though I saw a lot of tempting foods, I seldom actually felt tempted, because I’d already eaten. The most tempting things were having chocolates in my house that I saw every time I opened the freezer, working on the blog and seeing pictures of chocolates and other foods, when my husband was eating something good (more cheese plate!) or brought me candy ( Jelly Belly Dips !) and I didn’t want him to think I was unappreciative. Also, Santoku knives are great!
Surprises: I’m surprised temptation hasn’t been an issue all along. I’ve never made it this far on any “diet” without succumbing within two weeks. I thought purchasing things on-the-go would be an issue all along, but since it hasn’t been, this week wasn’t much different from other weeks. However, in Week 3 when I could eat anything I wanted, I didn’t want to go back to unhealthy foods. This week, because I wasn’t allowed to eat whatever I wanted, suddenly I wanted pie and other baked, sugary desserts. This isn’t surprising. Making things forbidden is a sure trigger for desire. What’s surprising is that it didn’t occur to me this would happen this week.
E-mail direct mail advertisements are a significant source of temptation. I’m always clicking on links to get a closer look at the things that interest me — but I never really saw it as teasing myself before.
Other surprises: I don’t miss ice cream, and I haven’t baked myself brownies yet.
Also, black beans are good to eat without any adornment.
Funny Things: I had intended to write about the Starbucks pastry case , the way the canvas ropes guide the customers right past it, the way it seems to be the exact same height as I am, thereby putting all those temptations right at eye level, although really, with that more-than-90-degree curved glass, just about everyone’s eyes — from children to the very tall — are guided right to it, but then I never did end up going to Starbucks this week. I’d also intended to write about how the Wafels and Dinges truck has been tormenting me for months, but I saw it yesterday and … eh, nothing.
Conclusion: The same things that usually tempt me tempted me this week too — chocolate, bakery display cases, baked goods, cheese and chocolate in my house, e-mail, photographs of food — but it’s much more manageable when I’m full. It also helped that I knew I had some chocolates at home that I would be eating later.
Next Up: Tomorrow I discuss the fifth obstacle to sensible eating: inertia.