Switching to black forest ham is not much of a change

Last Sunday, my three year old son points at some low-fat bran muffins, “Mommy, can we get some of these?”

For some reason beyond me, I tell him we’ll come back to the bakery section. Obviously I didn’t want to make a decision. Perhaps I was hoping that he would forget about the muffins. Of course, he reminded me that I promised to return to the bakery. Unfortunately, the brownies, instead of the muffins, caught his eye.

Yes, I bought the brownies. It was a small package, and he easily forgets about treats in the house. I figured that it was an opportunity to practice having sweets (treats, restricted/ bad food) in the pantry.  

The brownies lasted in the house from lunch Sunday to Tuesday evening. My son had one brownie, my husband had two, and I had the other five.

At least the consumption was spread across a 72 hour time period.

What happened?

Almost a month before, I wrote how eating the same thing day after day triggers overeating. Unfortunately, I’m slow to change. At the time, I changed the deli meat of my lunchtime sandwich. Instead of eating a roasted turkey and havarti sandwich, I switched it up to a black forest ham and havarti sandwich. Daring eh? Not surprisingly, this deli meat swap was insufficient. 

Finally, I've completely changed my lunch. For the next while, I’m eating a salad comprised of spring mix lettuce, tomatoes, baked chicken breast, walnut pieces, pumpkin seeds, sun dried tomatoes (no oil), and minimal salad dressing at lunchtime along with a small roll, and fruit. And it was surprisingly tasty and filling. I imagine that the salad will lose its spark quicker than a sandwich, but perhaps when I recognize the signs, I’ll implement change faster and perhaps prevent another rapidly depleting brownie situation at the house.

Speaking of change, the amount of exercise is increasing tonight. I’ve been on the waiting list for the local masters swim club for a year now. I may have a spot, but the coach wants to see my swim tonight to see how fast I am. I haven’t trained consistently in the pool in years. I’m hoping I haven’t oversold her on my swimming ability. More importantly, I’m hoping that I can last the hour-long workout!


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