's motd Thurs Feb 11, 2010

[Guest guest]

"OH, I'LL HAVE JUST ONE..."

Thursday, 11 February 2010

Food was always plentiful at my house when I was growing up. I mean there was plenty of everything. I'm talking lots of pastries, cookies, luncheon meats, chips and of course...ice cream. There was no lock on our refrigerator door! I could just open that fridge, look through and have anything I wanted.

When a particular food was getting low in our house, my parents quickly added that item to their grocery list. God forbid we be out of bologna or barbecued potato chips! I was so bad that sometimes I'd be snacking on something to eat while my father was still cooking breakfast.On my walks to school, I'd snack some more. And I mean "snack" on enough calories to count for an entire meal! And I would continue my snacking...all day long.Of course with all of that snacking came the weight! And as I gained more weight, the rules around my house began to change. Yep, the word "can't" entered my life. My parents made a list of the foods I was no longer allowed to have.

"Dicky, you can't have chips, cookies or cakes anymore. The luncheon meats are gonna have to go, too. And don't look for ice cream in the freezer because you won't find any. You have got to lose some of this weight, !"You know, back then, I'd seen a movie with my mother, starring Hayward. In the movie, Ms. Hayward was in prison. And I've got to tell you, I felt like I was in prison with the new rules about food I now had to live with. No more this, no more that...what was I going to do?!Well, one day, while I was looking through the pantry just off our kitchen, I discovered a bag of barbecued potato chips tucked away behind a box of oatmeal. Oh, I looked at that bag really hard and there wasn't anyone around using the word can't.I checked to be sure I was all alone and began debating the issue with myself. ", you can have just one potato chip! What's the big deal? Besides, no one's going to know. You're not going to gain weight from having just one little potato chip."

So I grabbed the bag, opened it a bit and slid out just one chip. It had been so long since I'd had a potato chip and, I've got to tell you, it tasted so amazing to me! Then, and wouldn't you know it...another chip, uhhh "fell" out of the bag. (So I had to eat it too, right?) Well, within three minutes, I guess all of the chips must have fallen out because the whole bag was empty!Now there are two kinds of people in the world. One kind who can eat just one chip and...that's it. But those in the second group aren't satisfied until that bag of chips is completely empty. And may I ask, which group do you fall into?Look, if you're seriously trying to lose weight, you can't eat just one of anything. Really. You can't stop at one chip, one cookie or one donut. And hey, neither can I!So you have to keep the foods out of your house that you know will get you in trouble. And when you leave your house, you have to avoid those same foods. And remember, it's not like you can never have any of those foods again. See, as you stay on program, you build the strength to resist temptation. And after you lose the weight and reach your goal, you can then plan how to incorporate some of those favorite foods into a sensible food program for yourself.So when it comes to those foods, please don't sway...just be Feng Shui!Love,