Delicious
In the drudgery of dieting, it's sometimes hard to find compelling reasons not to eat something that looks and smells and tastes so delicious. The promise of losing the weight you're working on or fitting into new jeans is often reason enough, and I've turned down many a cookie with such images in mind. Sometimes, however, little mantras help to remind us of what's more important, and occasionally they come to me, nicely formed.
I was walking into work this morning, clutching a banana in one hand, when I began pondering how far I'd come in the last couple of years. There was a time when grabbing a banana on my way out the door in the morning never would have entered my consideration. Now, even if it's not as exciting as a doughnut or a bagel, I do grab the piece of fruit, slice of wheat toast, or hard boiled egg. They're full of protein and fiber and keep me full and happy until well into the morning.
I know that for me, there are often times when I think, I can't wait until I'm at my goal weight, then I can relax a little and eat whatever I want. Meaning, of course, treats and snacks and things filled with sugar and salt and generally bad for you in every way. Those little morsels will, and should, always have a place in one's eating habits, albeit a small one. Thanksgiving is not a time to watch calories, as far as I'm concerned, for example. But I had a revelation as I crossed the street from my car to the office courtyard -- I really only thought that I wanted those things, the treats and snacks and goodies. Yes, they taste good, but the feelings of sluggishness, constant tiredness, and an unwillingness to try anything new or expose myself were the very things that I had changed about my life through diet and exercise, and also the same things that eating all those "treats" left behind. It was, I suddenly knew, a paradox.
"They taste delicious, but do they make you feel delicious?" I asked myself. Silently, of course, or the others in the elevator would have snickered.
My recent experiences with the Pin Up Girls world of glamour and fabulous curves reminded me that I should feel delicious, look delicious, and act delicious at all times. Which means taking care of myself, being the grown up who tells the kid in me that she needs to eat her vegetables first. Then, once all the broccoli is gone, she can have a scoop of frozen yogurt. Or pumpkin pie, if it's Thanksgiving. So really, it all comes down to taking care of yourself, and that's my reason for today to bypass the chips at lunch, the pastries in the kitchen at breakfast, the drinks after work. They may taste delicious, but I can socialize without food, and feel much more delicious when I'm done!
I was walking into work this morning, clutching a banana in one hand, when I began pondering how far I'd come in the last couple of years. There was a time when grabbing a banana on my way out the door in the morning never would have entered my consideration. Now, even if it's not as exciting as a doughnut or a bagel, I do grab the piece of fruit, slice of wheat toast, or hard boiled egg. They're full of protein and fiber and keep me full and happy until well into the morning.
I know that for me, there are often times when I think, I can't wait until I'm at my goal weight, then I can relax a little and eat whatever I want. Meaning, of course, treats and snacks and things filled with sugar and salt and generally bad for you in every way. Those little morsels will, and should, always have a place in one's eating habits, albeit a small one. Thanksgiving is not a time to watch calories, as far as I'm concerned, for example. But I had a revelation as I crossed the street from my car to the office courtyard -- I really only thought that I wanted those things, the treats and snacks and goodies. Yes, they taste good, but the feelings of sluggishness, constant tiredness, and an unwillingness to try anything new or expose myself were the very things that I had changed about my life through diet and exercise, and also the same things that eating all those "treats" left behind. It was, I suddenly knew, a paradox.
"They taste delicious, but do they make you feel delicious?" I asked myself. Silently, of course, or the others in the elevator would have snickered.
My recent experiences with the Pin Up Girls world of glamour and fabulous curves reminded me that I should feel delicious, look delicious, and act delicious at all times. Which means taking care of myself, being the grown up who tells the kid in me that she needs to eat her vegetables first. Then, once all the broccoli is gone, she can have a scoop of frozen yogurt. Or pumpkin pie, if it's Thanksgiving. So really, it all comes down to taking care of yourself, and that's my reason for today to bypass the chips at lunch, the pastries in the kitchen at breakfast, the drinks after work. They may taste delicious, but I can socialize without food, and feel much more delicious when I'm done!