Temptations

What are the foods that tempt us? What are the foods that we define as "treats", or just plain old, freakin', great food? Even if we take food out of the equation, what are the "things" that tempt us to do what we say we don't want? We all have something, don't we?

Back to food and eating. I was talking with a good friend this morning about temptations....really good, well prepared foods, that were available to her at her workplace. Everyday, every single day. Quick, delicious, high quality, healthy (? only in the correct quantity!), foods....at her fingertips, and all she had to do was order it, and pay for it.......how does one choose? Not WHAT to eat, but HOW MUCH, and when to STOP eating all of that good, high quality, gourmet, healthy, nutritious, freshly prepared food?

So, in our conversation, her question to me was, how can I resist? Well, "resist" wasn't her word, but that was the bottom line feeling. I used my own analogy of how I was able to "resist" fast food for over 4 years now. In fact I haven't had to "resist" it at all! Why? Because it's not attractive to me anymore, there's absolutely no "resistance".....I find it disgusting, and therefore it doesn't bother me to not eat it. What changed from the days, the years, of eating fast food daily....yep, like many of Americans, I ate fast food daily. I can tell you, right now, my favorite fast food meal:

McDonald's

3 regular cheeseburgers ($3.00)
6 chocolate chip cookies ($2.00)
maybe some fries.....
maybe a softdrink.... (the cookies were the important part!)

Almost every single day. And if the drive-through line was too long, I'd sit in my car cursing all of the "idiots" in front of me keeping me from my food.

So what McDonald's wasn't "gourmet", it was still de-li-cious....to me!

I dont care if you eat at McDonald's, PF, freakin', Chang's, Olive, freakin', Garden, Red, freakin', Lobster, Some super high end resturant, like French, freakin' Laundry, temptation is temptation.

I'm not saying that I don't eat too many calories....I must, because I've increased my bodyweight by 20lbs this last year.....so I'm eating more than my body needs to maintain a lower bodyweight....that's the "science" behind it. Calories in, calories out.

But I'm searching for the bigger picture.....

Sure, science may have to be respected, but science doesn't explain everything.

Tracy! Where are you going with this? Good Lord!

My point is....are we tempted because we feel as if we have to resist? Resist what? Resist all of the great foods available to us. Guess what? We will never run out of good food. I don't need anyone else to make it for me, I can make it all by myself.

Pasta. I can make any kind of pasta I want to. I have plenty of dried pasta in my pantry, and I have fresh pasta in my freezer (well I guess that doesn't qualify as "fresh", lol). and the knowledge to make any kind of sauce my little heart desires. Creamy, cheesey, meaty, whatever.

Desserts. Why do you think I don't keep flour in my house? Because I don't know how to bake? Yeh right! I used to host an annual Xmas Cookie Exchange just so I could make dozens and dozens of cookies....get my friends to make dozens of cookies too, and then exchange with eachother so I could have, and EAT more cookies. My "signature" dessert was a Mocha Trifle made with homemade pastry cream....I can bake with the best of them!

I keep only small amounts of ingredients like coconut milk.....I'd make rice pudding everyday. Popcorn.....I'd make kettlecorn everyday....and speaking about sugar, I buy the smallest boxes of C&H sugar as possible, as not to ever have a ton of it in the house! Nuts....and never nut butter....good Lord, nuts can get out of hand. I don't even keep fruit preserves (jelly) in the house. Jelly can turn anything into dessert. Yogurt....isn't yogurt ice cream? And speaking of ice cream.....I only by the flavors I don't like .

Enough already. The point?

Do I not keep these things in the house, or if I do I keep them "out of sight", because I'm so tempted by them I wouldn''t be able to control myself? OR, does God (the Universe) give me the strength I need, on any given day to focus, (or not focus) on the fact that I can have anything I want, anytime I want it, and therefore relieving me of the "urgency" of getting all I can before it's all gone?

Am I making any kind of sense? Seriously.....

Don't focus on resistence. Don't focus on what you can't have. Don't focus on what you don't have. Don't focus on what's "unfair"....life can seem unfair, unless we choose to see something different.

I'm not saying I'm perfect. And I'm not saying that I don't have my head up my ass some of the time....I do. BUT, I know the difference of putting my own head up my ass, and playing the victim of "life" putting my head up my ass....if it's there, it's because I put it there.