Temptation

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I've had a fantastically productive Saturday. And an enjoyable one as well. Rob and I had our weekly breakfast date this morning. We've been loving The Oink Cafe on Cactus and Paradise Village Parkway over by the Paradise Valley Mall, but since we went to get his car serviced, we ended up at Luci's Healthy Marketplace on Bethany Home and 16th Street in Phoenix. Amazing stuff. We've only been there twice, but I can't wait to go back! Lovely food, great atmosphere, and gluten free options abound.

I've been wanting something sweet today. I don't have anything in the house that would come remotely close other than fruit, and I don't care for fruit so that's out. But it made me realize that we haven't talked about temptations and cravings. I've been trying to focus on food that is nutritionally sound and helpful to me with Celiac's disease, and the default for me has been to not have tempting foods in the house and I do my best to avoid those restaurants or dishes that I have a history of lack of control. For example, I wanted a soda today because I heard my husband open the bottle of Sprite. Well next thing I know, I want a Coke Zero so bad, it hurts. I grabbed one of my mineral waters, added a lot of ice and drinking the fizzy water really scratched my soda itch. If there had been a Coke Zero readily available, it might have been a different story. Temptation is all around, it's always lurking around the corner and you may not always be able to tell when it's stalking you until it pounces on you like its helpless prey.

There are a couple of issues that I think shroud food cravings and temptation in mystery. First of all, virtuous and non-virtuous foods. Bad foods, good foods. Your lunch was never meant to be an epic battle between good and evil. Food was meant to be energy and delicious not a minefield of emotional torment. Torment it has become for me and so many others because of the virtue we assign to food. Eat a "bad food" and you reinforce that you are a "bad person." This echoes a lot of what I wrote in the "I'm So Bad," post. I wouldn't echo it if weren't so true. The second issue that I see with cravings and temptation is the "All or Nothing." The all or nothing takes place when someone gives in and indulges a craving. Let's say for example, a sweet treat. I don't need to put a name on it because I don't want to get an idea lodged in my head. So I indulge in my sweet treat, which I had not planned and then realize, "Geez Kendra, you really blew it today! For goodness sakes, your whole day of healthy eating is ruined! May as well go get more." Now the thought process may not be as silly or include a "geez" but I can't tell you how many times I have been completely undone by this type of thinking! What's worse are the times that I throw out an entire day, week, or more of great choices because I was in an "All or Nothing," frame of mind. For those of you fighting this particular fight with me, I know you've been there too.



WOD

Rest day. I was getting ready to go swimming and realized that a dust storm was pushing through town. Going to get up early for some yoga here in the house tomorrow morning.

Nutrition

Breakfast: Omelette with  lump crab meat, smoked salmon, asparagus, onions, and swiss cheese. With a side of purple, sweet, and pink potatoes. It came with fruit but I gave that to Rob.

Lunch: Steak and broccoli, with homemade guacamole. Awwwww, yeah.

Dinner: Toast.


I'm trying to learn to strike a balance in my heart about this all. I don't think that I will live the rest of my life never tasting another slice of pizza, or never consuming anything else that isn't nutritionally valuable. I don't want to be so rigid that any time I make an unhealthy food choice, that I'm tempted to quit and just eat my little heart out. I also don't want to be so lenient that I make no progress in my weight loss endeavors. For now my strategy has been to remove all temptation from my house and avoid them as much as possible when I am eating out. Also, if at all possible, when I am eating out I try to look at the menu online ahead of time so that I can make a decision before I get there. For now I've been using treats as a way of allowing myself to not feel so cornered by eating choices and basically allowing myself a mental break. This seems to be working so far for me, but it's a work in progress and far from perfect. It's been a day of just acknowledging my cravings and doing my best to let them go. I think also, that the longer I eat clean and don't have the foods that tempt me most, my taste for them will diminish. Or at least, this is my hope.

xo,

Kendra