No Such Thing as Just a Little Bit?

I'm a little tardy with my post this week.  I don't have much time to post during the week, and this past weekend I was busy with other things, so I didn't get a chance.  But I'm posting now, and I'll try to catch up with how things are going.

I didn't lose any weight this past week, but I'm not sure it was because of the picnic, although it's likely it was.  I'm not concerned about it because I continue to stick to my plan (with a few minor deviations now and again)--I haven't run the bus into a ditch yet!

I do find that eating foods I don't normally eat causes me to have cravings for those foods for a while after eating them.  That's an annoying side effect which makes trying to eat small amounts of fattening foods much more difficult for me.  But as Shirley says in her book, "if a particular Controlled Trade is causing trouble, get rid of it for a while. In the interim, work on your eating behaviors and eat less tempting Controlled Trades.  You can try the troublesome Trade again after you've learned to exercise more control."

Getting rid of a food can be a bit tricky, though, when you've already brought it home.  Now it must be eaten or thrown away, and neither is a very satisfying alternative.  Foods from the picnic followed us home, and then lingered there, tempting us for days (although I did bring some of them to work the next Monday--three days later).  It was a bad idea to bring home the food, but the "Waste Not, Want Not" subterfuge kicked in and before I knew what was happening, it was in the back of our van.  I'm going to try to leave the picnic earlier next time so I won't get stuck with disposing of the extra food.

The picnic food ended up causing trouble for me in a way I didn't like.  I found myself thinking about it and looking at it every time I was in the vicinity.  I had to keep telling myself not to eat it, which was kind of tiresome, I must say.  I wonder what normal people (without eating addictions) would do.  Well, not being tempted, they'd ignore it, I suppose, until it was too stale or moldy or rotten to eat.  Then they'd throw it out. 

Whenever I wonder about non-eating disorder behavior, I have only to think of what my slim friend Linda would do.  In the case of excess goodies, Linda puts them in the cupboard or the back of the refrigerator and promptly forgets about them.  Months later, she finds them and says, "Oh, I didn't know I still had those," or something to that effect. Of course, they then go right into the trash without regret.

This is part of what Shirley promises in her book--that kind of relationship with food.  Linda doesn't hate food, she simply isn't addicted to it.  She enjoys the taste of rich chocolates, but doesn't crave more after she's eaten one or two pieces. Her relationship with food is like my relationship with alcohol--I like a glass of fine wine, but after one or two glasses, I can put it into the refrigerator and not even think about it until weeks later, when I wonder if it's gone bad.  Or it doesn't bother me to pour out a bottle of beer after I've only taken a few sips, even though I might put the cap back on and leave it in the refrigerator for a few days before eventually dumping it.

Eating addicts know they're addicted, although they may not want to admit it openly.  But I have to wonder why advocates of some diets don't know it.  Programs like Weight Watchers, that encourage dieters to eat just a little bit of brownie or cake or doughnut or ice cream (especially if they're Weight Watchers' brand goodies) without providing the infrastructure that Shirley provides, are pushing what they know to be extremely difficult for the truly addicted.  They are courting diet disaster, in my opinion.They may have helps, but I think they don't do enough to deal with the destructive behaviors that are causing the problems. But perhaps they don't care as long as they can sell their special food and collect monthly dues from members. 

Anyway, this week has been a bit easier so far, so I'm looking forward to a loss this week when I step on the scale.  I'll keep you posted!