Friday, May 29, 2009

Let me set the scene: I went to Starbucks at 9am this morning to continue the revisions on my dissertation. I ordered my grande decaf soy caramel Machiato and sat down to get to work. I managed to work for 4 hours straight and get a lot accomplished. Then, I got hungry and I realized I had to go to a library for some resources. So, what to do? It's a straight line from my house to the library with Starbuck's about 1/5 of the way towards the library. Do I go home and grab a quick bite and then head to the library or do I try to save time and stop for fast food on the way? Quite the dilemma! I was really craving some fatty, greasy food so I went to my nutrition planner page and plugged in the meal that I really wanted. It left me with 235 calories for dinner. So, I have to ask myself if I'm willing to have this one delicious meal now and then veggies and maybe a little meat for dinner or would I rather spread out my calories a little more evenly.

The decision: Eat the burger and fries and eat bird food for dinner. Yep, that's the one I went with and I really enjoyed the burger and fries.

Here is why I'm not upset about the decision: I did not act in haste, I didn't react to an emotional urge to eat. I thought about it and used all of the available information to make a good decision. So, tonight I'll enjoy green beans, small chicken breast tender and strawberries for dessert.

I feel like I'm learning to make choices and think about the overall effects of those choices rather than just think about what I want at the moment. For me, this is a huge step. I'm such an emotional eater and I've been under a lot of stress lately so it's amazing that I seem to be in control of my eating. Or, maybe God is in control now that I think about it. I have been actively praying that God will take away my anxiety and help me to focus on the tasks that I need to get done. Yep, that's probably why this attempt is going so much better than my previous attempts. Amazing how that happens!

Thanks for all of the positive feedback. I guess that I'll know if this is truly the last time I start the journey towards health in a couple months! If I'm still going strong then I really have done it.

For your entertainment, a comic strip that expresses my exact dissertation experience:
www.phdcomics.com/comics
/archive.php?comicid=1112