I have a bad habit.
In the evenings, after the little one goes to bed, I like to sit down in front of the TV, peruse Facebook to see what’s going on, and quite often have a snack.
Sometimes I snack because I’m legitimately hungry. I run at top speed from about 3:30 or so until the baby is in bed, usually somewhere between 7 and 7:30. This is after a day of work for which I get paid, sometimes laundry, making dinner or at least seeing that the two kids and the husband have something to eat, tending to the dog as necessary, grocery shopping, and whatever else needs to get done. Sometime I actually get to eat dinner; sometimes I don’t.
Either way, I snack. It’s my comfort food time of the day. I can relax and eat something without someone needing my attention for a little while.
And while I feel moderately justified in this evening nosh, it’s a very bad habit on my part, mostly because I’m about 40 lbs overweight. And while I doubt I could maintain my ideal weight of 130-135, it would be nice to park around 150 or 160 and keep it there.
But Oreo cookies and milk at 7:30-8 in the evening is going to make reaching that goal rather difficult. Okay, impossible. And I know that. And sometimes I can actually resist. But most of the time I don’t. I could, I think, but I don’t.
So sitting down with my little cream filled chocolate delights, that get just a bit soggy when dunked, fills me simultaneously with contentment and self-loathing.
Eventually I have to let the self-loathing win. At a minimum, find some other time of day to indulge. Or I am destined to be one of those people I see at the Wal-Mart, perusing the snack aisle, wearing stretch pants that are filled to capacity with the undulating cellulite mass that will ultimately be my buttocks, seams crying out for mercy until they finally give way.
I dunno – is it better to visualize what you WANT to become, or better to have a clear vision of what you DON’T want to become. Like driving — staring at the pothole you don’t want to hit will ultimately cause you to drive right into it. So look at where you want to go, not at where you don’t want to go. Does life work the same way?
Jeff Michael said,
November 8, 2011 at 11:38 am
Here’s the thing about goals: it doesn’t matter what you use, because in the end it’s not about the goals, it’s about the path. This is exactly why all those lipo/lap band/whatever quick fixes never work. It’s not about the body you want or don’t want in the end…because there is no end. It’s about what you do from 7:30 – 8:00. For me it’s been two things: not eating unless I’m hungry, and then choosing a little better what I eat. Some portion control, some going against the “sure why not” instinct here and there, but nothing too radical, else you’re sure to fall right back into the old ways.
If I can make one tangible suggestion: ditch the Oreos and make that snack some fruit or vegetables. Lately instead of the conventional pint of Ben and Jerry’s that has in a manner of speaking made me the man I am today, I’ve been going with an apple. I’ve always been a guy to just bite into an apple, but lately I’ve been cutting them into quarters–makes it more of a snack experience, so to speak.
For it’s a matter of habits. I just have to redefine what I do.