Cheating or Living?

Funny story.  Last night, as I was putting the finishing touches on the post, hubby came home with a surprise for me.  He had been thinking since he had dropped me off at home and thought that one small ice cream would not hurt anything.

You got it; he held out a chocolate dipped ice-cream from the Dairy Freeze!  I do believe that Myron momentarily possessed my wonderful, loving husband!  The Boy started laughing, I simply turned my laptop around and showed hubby the post.  Laughing, he passed the ice-cream to The Boy, who seemed to enjoy it.

I was quite proud of myself.  There it was, my former favorite treat, being held out to me by my loving spouse, and I had NO desire to eat it.  Give it up Myron, my friend, you are toast!

I was home today working on laundry and nursing a migraine.  As has become my habit, I was listening to a program about diet and nutrition.  The Doctor on the show (unfortunately, I never caught his name) had a very interesting take on "cheating" that I have been thinking about all day.

He was going over a food diary with a person who had had a particularly bad day diet-wise.  This patient had gone to a game with some buddies and had indulged in some food that was decidedly off his plan.  The Doctor asked the patient if he thought he cheated.  The patient looked at the Doctor liked he was nuts and said "Yeah, I blew it."

The Doctor responded "No, you lived.  You have a life.  You cheated when you didn't write it down and did not admit to yourself what you ate so you could adjust for it.  That was cheating.  Eating the food was not."

That simple statement has been with me all day.  I could have had that ice-cream last night.  I would have had to walk or ride a little more today, or adjusted a couple of meals.  I had never actually thought of it in that light before, it can be done.

This is a lifestyle change, I have to live.  It is ridiculous to think that I am going to abstain from ice-cream for the rest of my life.  Sooner or later the lure of Dairy Queen will call to me like a mermaid to a sailor.  If I can adjust, perhaps I can have a bit of a taste.

The Boy's birthday is next week.  He was already fretting about a birthday cake because he didn't want me to eat some and 'fall into a diabetic coma' (you have to love teenage drama).  He should not have to worry about such things.  Birthdays are meant to be enjoyed, they are your very own personal holiday!  Birthday cake is a part of Birthdays, that is also a part of life.

I don't want to cheat anymore.  I don't want to beat myself up when I eat something "bad".  Food isn't good or bad.  It's just Food.


I think I'm going to choose to Live.  Eating is part of life.  Sometimes, in life you have to make adjustments, we do it all the time.  I can do that, I can adjust.

Let's not cheat anymore, let's all live life!!