Delayed gratification and self-denial weaken one's attempt to strive for discipline. Dieting is a great example where self-denial often causes failure. A fat person can drop a lot of weight quickly by spending several months in a place with widespread food shortages. However, denying natural needs while the option to binge is just a decision and opportunity away is a virtual guarantee the subject will succumb to temptation. The goal is to win, not to suffer. So, for dieting purposes, it's best to eat frequent, small satiating meals.

Today I didn't have opportunity to eat breakfast, breaking rule #1 of lowering carb and junk intake. The reason people are so easily seduced by fast food when it often doesn't taste as good as healthier, slower prepared foods, is the desperation delayed gratification and seeming lack of opportunity to find an alternative. Convenience only traps one into bad decision making when the subject feels they have few or no other options. If all meals cost the same and you can wait an additional ten minutes to have a home cooked and luxurious meal, would you pick fast food? If you say yes, you've likely been conditioned by a lifestyle of take out convenience and have most likely suffered fast food Stockholm syndrome. It isn't the natural selection unless you've found some amazing take out.

So, what was today's result and how did it impact my diet? It wasn't that bad. I ate 4-5 small bowls of salad with feta cheese, olives, cucumbers, garlic and lime salsa, squash and cheddar cheese. I'm definitely full. But, it's not the feeling I'm going for. I feel full, not fulfilled. It would have been much better if I had several small meals. It left me with a bloated feeling.

My daughter also gave me a small box of luscious chocolate. It was not diet chocolate. But, in all I had 3 pieces, 100 calories, 11 grams of sugar. And, I am filled. That's the conditioning of just two prior days switching 100% off the addictive sugar and wheat diet I normally suffer. So, even a bad day isn't a bad day in the big picture. That's evidence of just how fast you can condition yourself to think and behave differently, that even when you fail it's not as severe a failure. The important thing to do is immediately recognize your proper path and don't throw up your hands and give in to the bad trend.

So, I'm back on the wagon even though I didn't get too far off the wagon in the first place.

20100625

2:10PM
5-6 bowls of salad, squash, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, green olives, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, garlic and lime salsa, lots of water

5:00PM
3 small pieces of chocolate totalling 100 calories and 11 grams of sugar, more water

6:30PM
Half a chicken (breast and wings) baked with dry skin, 1/4 cup of sweet (white) potatoe salad, 1/5 cup of cole slaw, white dressing, unsweet tea [my splurge]