Everyday Systems

Hey everyone,

I'll try to describe something I've been doing and finding helpful for some time now. Who knows -- it might work for you, too!

Currently, I'm volunteering in Bulgaria for a year, and often find myself socializing with people during the week, or being at work events in the evening etc. That's great, because it means I'm making friends here, but it also makes No S difficult. Often, these events are not "big enough" to justify an NWK S day, but it would also be awkward to refuse.

The problem about this was, however, not the couple of additional calories from home-made cookies my co-worker brought. The problem was my habit of saying "Oh, whatever, I already failed, so I'll just buy myself a box of cookies and eat those 10 oz in one sitting." NOT a good idea.

So instead of doing this, I've started calling these instances "outside fails" because I didn't internally and independently decide, "Screw this plan, I'm eating whatever" (I used to do this ), but I made a decision to participate in this or that social event and then continuing my normal N Day routine.

I hope you were able to understand what I meant... my English is getting worse and worse and my Bulgarian gets better.

Regards, Anoulie

A while back there was a good thread in which the lovely and talented KCCC noted that nobody in their right mind would go drive a car into a wall (wreck) after bending the fender by backing into a light post (ding).

Outside fails are dings. They don't really do much damage as long as they are small and not too frequent. Inside fails are wrecks. That's where you can get into lots of trouble.

Excellent insight. When I was your age, I think I would have said I knew this but I didn't know how to live it. You are saving yourself many years of frustration by living sanely now.

And your English is excellent. Much better than my tourist "eine bier bitte" German and let's not even talk about Bulgarian.

I understand this. I have done it many times on other plans. Choosing a controlled detour like the one piece of cake your Grandma loves to make for you and watch you eat is not so bad if it rarely happens. Choosing to change your course completely and eat the whole cake in one day once you get it home is totally different.

One thing I've had to learn over the years is that eating is primarily about nutrition to sustain our bodies but eating is also about pleasure and fellowship. The key is to find a normal balance.

Katie, I think you've been able to pinpoint something monumental here. That's exactly it. I think it's never the one cookie here or the appetizer there that makes us fat. It's thinking we screwed up and eating 20 more that makes us FAT.

Katie, I think you've been able to pinpoint something monumental here. That's exactly it. I think it's never the one cookie here or the appetizer there that makes us fat. It's thinking we screwed up and eating 20 more that makes us FAT.