April 18, 2007

Guilty Pleasures



Crabby finds herself amused (and annoyed) when she reads articles that start off very sensibly, saying something like: "You'll never stick to a diet for the long haul if you have to swear off all your favorite foods. Treat yourself occasionally!"

But then they go on to say: "Have a piece of hard candy or a small square of semi-sweet chocolate and satisfy your cravings--you've earned it!"

I'm sorry, what planet do these people come from? Dear readers, have your cravings ever been satisfied by a puny piece of candy or a single small square of chocolate? Any craving so easily vanquished hardly even qualifies as a craving to begin with.

Of course we can't indulge in Special Treats every time we feel like it. Crabby, speaking only for herself, would be as big as a school bus given how often she feels like eating something Evil. Instead, we have to choose our occasions, and either (a) plan ahead and reward ourselves for good behavior; or (b) go insanely out of control for a few glorious moments and then beat ourselves up for it for a respectable hour or two afterwards.

One of Crabby's favorite rewards, after a good week of lots of fresh produce, whole grains, low fat protein, good fats, blah blah blah, is to forgo a healthy dinner and walk a couple of miles to a local ice cream emporium and have a hot fudge sundae for dinner. Ecstasy!

So, newly arrived readers, please weigh in! How do you handle the issue of Treats? With self-restraint and dignity... or not so much? What are some of your favorite indulgences? And if you don't have a blog or anything, please comment anyway, just be happily Anonymous if that makes it any easier. Crabby would love to hear from you!

5 comments:

  1. My way of handling the treats thing is to eat really tiny things and make them last. I have been know to make 1/8 of a cup of M&Ms (about 100 calories) last all the way through a movie. It's an art.

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  2. I'm impressed, anonymous. Crabby could not make 1/8 of a cup of M&M's last more than two minutes!

    Mmm, M&M's...

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  3. When I fall off the eating wagon, I do so in a truly spectacular fashion -- think eating an entire bucket of movie popcorn slathered in butter, an entire wheel of brie, etc. Fortunately, I have a lot of restraint, except when I'm travelling, which lately is quite a bit. I don't know who could satisfy their cravings with one ounce of dark chocolate -- that's lunacy. But I agree with you ... if you walk a few miles to the ice-cream place, you pretty much deserve a good treat :)

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  4. Welcome, Martha!
    Crabby sometimes finds that those more spectacular tumbles off the healthy eating wagon can actually be quite helpful in overall maintenance. Sometimes it takes an entire wheel of brie (or most of a box of See's candy, in Crabby's case, which is a particular holiday weakness) to send the necessary "thats enough now cut it out!" message. Although other times gluttony just seems to lead to more gluttony in which case Crabby must issue herself a Stern Talking To.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  5. This is my first time reading your blog, so I figured it would be smart to start at the beginning.. I like :)

    What I do, instead of insanely trying to argue myself into only eating what essentially my big toe weighs in chocolate, etc., is try to find new ways to eat things. And never bring the whole bag of whatever you're snacking on. Say, I'm eating pretzels. I'll take only four or five, not the whole bag (more likely to take more). I annoy myself by eating creatively, get bored, and don't want more. Plus, eating slower makes you less likely to binge.

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Thanks for commenting, Cranky Fitness readers are the BEST!

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