Since I have been on this quinoa diet, I have avoided the convenience food that I habitually ate in the past. I work from home, and I live right across the street from a convenience store. When my son is home, he is always willing to run over and get me a snack should that ever seem too far for me to wander.
However, all those easy, empty calories had a lot to do with my poor health. If I didn’t want to stop for lunch, I could have my son grab me Dunkin’ Donuts. Late afternoon, I might send him for a Diet Coke and a honey bun and that would tide me over for a few more hours of working. Then, I might not be hungry until later in the evening when I no longer had the energy to cook, so again sometimes, I would settle for fast and frivolous sustenance.
Make a Simple Rule
One of the first rules I made for my quinoa diet proscribed against convenience food. I planned to be prepared, and I promised myself that I would always eat when I am hungry. Recording my meals in my nutrition tracker helped me ensure that the foods I chose filled a physical need, and most of the time, I was not especially hungry.
Rules like this are great when they help you stay on track, but I feel I should warn you that sometimes you can break the rules. In fact, sometimes breaking a rule in the short run will help you in the long run.
About ten days ago, I had a terrible afternoon of sugar cravings. I had fallen into the old habit of drinking Diet Coke all day long, and by about 2:00 pm I had already eaten my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the day.
I couldn’t stop thinking about a honey bun. So I ate an apple. A half hour later, I was still craving sugar, so I ate a cup of baby carrots. At 4:00 pm, it was like I had not had anything, and all I could think of was a honey bun from across the way.
It was like a neon light flashing in my brain.
After two weeks of not being even slightly tempted to eat a honey bun, my head was pounding with the thought.
So…I ate a honey bun.
And just like that, I was magically cured of my obsession. I still managed to squeak in under my calorie limit for the day, and I must have gotten whatever it was that my body or brain seemed to think it needed because that was the end of my sugar craving.
Cut Yourself Some Slack
I’ve been there before. You have probably been there before too. You have been in that situation where you could go way over your calorie count trying to feed a particular hunger with substitutes or you could just give in this one time and move on.
Of course, the challenge lies in determining when you should stick to your rules and when you can safely relax a regulation without losing control. I have no easy answers for you. Life is all about finding the right balance. I just knew that day I could either eat one honey bun and break the obsession, or I could keep fighting the urge over and over again.
Today’s Recap
Breakfast – yogurt, quinoa, banana
Lunch – eggs, quinoa, kale, cheese
Dinner – tuna salad sandwich, skim milk
Snack – Strawberry Zucchini Salad, mushrooms, chocolate
Thanks for stopping by and giving me incentive to keep writing. Feel free to comment below.
By the way, I used a photo of my cat today because I thought he looked cute sleeping in a reusable grocery bag and I didn’t have any new food photos. Bagheera is the only other creature in this household who spends as much time as I do in the kitchen, so I suppose he has a right to appear on this blog from time to time.
Meow!
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