It is an unconscious struggle for me everyday. Not eating like a starved maniac and lap up every chocolate, pastry, cheese and cream around me. In my head, I actually become a version of Augustus Gloop but with nicer hair. Grabbing a fist of chocolate pudding with one hand and the decadent cheesy puff pastry with the other hand.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
The funny thing is, it is not even a conscious decision of limiting myself. I am not over-weight. I am very healthy. I exercise. I eat the right things most of the time. And it comes naturally and not forcefully. Yet, at the back of my mind there is a little me (probably even fictive) that wants to indulge in those creamy frothy concoctions. With a dash of espresso on top.
It is a temptation even without me making it so!
This is just me and food. I have met people who really have serious issues about stopping once they start. And not just food. Alcohol, smoking, sex, shopping and something as simple as peaking into the last page of this very very intriguing book. When it is time to sheepishly look back and admit how you went a little crazy for a while, the standard reply is “I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t help myself.” Apparently, you are not yourself anymore and this different version of you takes over. All you can do is helplessly look as you give in to your guilty pleasures (or perhaps not-so-guilty as well. Some people are too hard on themselves!) and later on drown in misery about being so weak and not having enough self-control.
Maybe we start off with high expectations. We don’t realize that we need to gradually wean off so that the withdrawal symptoms don’t hit so hard that we relapse even deeper into it. Or maybe we have the right kind of motivation that is guiding us into something. For example, I went off ice-cream for a year in 2014 in the memory of my grandpa. He loved ice-creams and till our last meet he kept up, “We need an ice-cream party”. And my regret was I could never hold that last party. Wrong or right, I stopped having ice-cream for that year (On hindsight, maybe I should have done the opposite? An ice-cream daily?). And I admit, the first few months were BAD!! But afterwards, I got used to it. I had tubs of chocolate brownie sundaes in front of me and I could cheerfully dole them out without even a twinge of temptation.
But it was just one year. Imagine your guiltiest pleasure reclining on the love seat and beckoning seductively. There is champagne and candle lights to finish off the decadent strawberries. And you have resist this every single day for the rest of your life? Reading stories about people fighting addictions and succeeding (or succumbing) makes me question my determination. I am not sure if I am strong enough to resist. That said, I am not sure if I will ever get addicted so strongly to something. I think.
Something by Mark Twain that makes me think twice and more (I looked it up as I couldn’t remember the exact words) –
“There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”
Where do you find your discipline and self-control? What is your guilty pleasure that lures you in its silken traps? A secret temptation perhaps? It can be funny, weird or downright believable!
We are talking “temp” at Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday 🙂 Jump right in!!
An Armchair Perfectionist 
As far as the food is concerned, my self control comes after looking at many of the relatives and conditions they are going through after indulging in things which are tasty to our taste buds but not really healthy. Also the fact that I am studying medicine and learn about the disease have some affect hahah. Even after the self control, I do tend to drink Ice Cap a lot and lot of people told me, “You are buying ice cap and it is -35 outside” and my reply that it is not -35 inside hahaha.
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I get you here. Looking at how indulgence affects others, I am somehow able to stop myself. It isn’t easy thought. Enjoy your Ice Cap 🙂
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Haha I am able to stop now 🙂
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Food is the hardest thing for me to resist. I try to combat it by never going to the grocery store hungry … it doesn’t always work. 😛
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Scientific fact 😀 Go to the grocery store only when you are full!
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Rght!
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I get this. I gave up caffeine for anxiety disorder. I quit smoking last year. I cut way back on spicy foods and colored liquor to appease my dosha and my rosacea. i took up an anti-inflammatory diet to help my arthritis, and that reduced lots of yummy stuff. I switched to safflower and coconut oil. I cut back on ice cream BIG TIME. Now, it’s soda. The battle is awful, lol! It’s like the last stand! I don’t buy soda at home, but it’s too hard not to order it out. Oh I love soda. It’s a serious addiction. When I drink it, I get a surge of energy and my eyes water. But it’s bad for me in every single way, so I have to say NO a lot. I am most proud of avoiding it yesterday when I went through the McD’s drive-thru and ordered an orange juice. McD’s Coke is my fave. They water the ice and have a high concentration of syrup. See, only a soda addict knows stuff like that!
The struggle is real!
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That has been a quite an experience Joey! One after another – it is commendable. I know we should be giving up and cutting down on a lot of stuff for our health, but the only thought that comes is “Perhaps, next time!” I wish you the best on your soda struggle. You’ll come through 🙂
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Like Joey, soda is super tough for me. Well, bad food/drinks in general, but especially soda. I love Coke. And that’s the one thing I vow to drop every single week, but don’t. Or I do for a short time and start up with it again.
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As long as we start again, I guess it will have to do until we succeed completely.
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The biggest addiction I’ve overcome is cigarettes. How I finally managed to quit and stay quit for almost 2 years now is taking it one day at a time. Trying to promise yourself that you won’t indulge for the rest of your life is a pretty tall order, and it’s quite daunting when thinking about it.
However, “not today” is a more than reasonable promise to yourself. So what if you falter one day? There’s always tomorrow and a new promise you can keep.
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That’s a great way of looking at it. One day at time. Ambition can be daunting if set too high.
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This word made me think of the Tea Party song of the same name.
🙂
It’s everywhere.
Temptation that is.
🙂
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Go indulge in those creamy forth concoctions 😉 Too much gyaan Prajakta 😛 On a serious note, I eat, a lot, and don’t gain weight. Well, so far I didn’t. (yes, I am that friend in the gang :P) I don’t know if I am strong enough to resist but then I know I will never get addicted to anything in a way that I wouldn’t be able to resist 😀
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Ah! I am also that friend to be honest 😀 But woij na. Slim = healthy! One day we will find out!
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Oh.. the Taboo of Human Temptation.. the wHole ‘reaSon’
for the ‘Fall From Eden’.. cover women to make
them SO tempting AND populate the earth
FROM HEAD TO TOE…
COVERING UP
THE GOODS
TO EXPLORE..
oh.. the journey..
the path has been
a long ONE to get
there for many cultures..
But finAlly.. in some places
IR is no longer a secret hidden
behind the lingerie section in a
Sears And Roebuck.. CATaLOG..
And teen pregnancy rates are falling
almost everywhere in the western
world where pornography
PROLiFERates the male
of the species.. and yes
that’s an ironic word
as there are
not even
extended
family members
to STOP THE
VICIOUS CYCLE
OF LOSS OF EMPATHY
WITH OR WITHOUT THE
WILD THING’S VIEW.. sMiles..:)
I don’t care for sweets.. Butt..
in moderation.. in moderation..
IT’s all BEST unless IT truly
harms someone with
consequences in
action taboo
or
NOT..:)
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Defining moderation is what gets difficult at times 🙂 Thank you for your lovely comment!
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When it comes food (not regular lunch) I consume everything. Except for pumpkin and fat sitting on the top of hot milk. No self control while eating. I just can’t resist 😉
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That cream at top of milk gives me shivers too! Argh. Thank you for coming in 🙂 It has been long!
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I know right. Ya it has been long due to work but writing is what we do best. We can’t stay away from it. 😉
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Reminds me of a Groucho Marx quote, “I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member”.
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Temptation only makes sense when you give in to it. I try to ignore most temptations but do lean to weakness.
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Love the Mark Twain quote–and it could not be more true. Forbidden fruit – or chocolate or fries or fill in the blank – totally tantalizing because it’s anything but broccoli or thirty minutes on the Stairmaster.
It takes so much will to master the want. Well done you.
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Thank you 🙂 The journey is never-ending in this case.
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Sugar is addicting, so you’re right about weaning off of it, unless you have a lot of support. I learned this coming off sugar cold turkey many years ago. I was mildly depressed for about two months. Then when I had a peach millkshake, I felt jittery, because I had no tolerance built up. Over the past couple years, I’ve eaten sugar “occasionally” more and more. My doctor told me I am approaching (denial) borderline diabetes, so I have to limit my sugars. For some of us, abstinence is easier than cutting back. We have to eat, but we don’t have to eat cake and cookies and pie. Dark chocolate, that’s my temptation, so I try to eat it small amounts mindfully, VERY SLOWLY. Sometimes it works. 😉
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I am scared to think of the day when I will be asked to stop indulging in cakes and pies. I am really scared and I am not sure if I am so strong. One of my friends, he point blank says, I would rather die young than give up sweets.
What will we do at that point? Mindful consumption sounds good – especially with dark chocolate 🙂
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I would say it is better to allow yourself to have what you like because it is true that when we restrict ourselves too much we can over indulge as a reaction.
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Chocolate? Where? I have always been naturally thin but this year I actually did gain a good amount of weight that I am working to rid myself of. I love food too much to count calories. I try to eat healthy and feel that a little indulgence here and there certainly won’t hurt as much as denying myself that little joy. Besides I was grossly underweight before I embarked on the journey to “plump-dom”, so shedding fifteen pounds is really not that hard when done gradually and safely. Coffee is where I have the biggest struggle. I am usually suffering varying degrees of dehydration because I hate water…drinking coffee all day doesn’t really count as hydration apparently…
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I can completely understand what you are saying! Being naturally thin is at times a vice – you don’t see the changes until it suddenly creeps up on you. Settling into occasional indulgences is the worst.
Set a water alarm – apparently there is an app for that!
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What I don’t understand about myself is that I don’t have a sweet tooth, there are very few things I like as dessert, I can’t eat more than few bites of chocolates or anything sweet too much. YET I have these temptations/cravings to eat something sweet after dinner. (Mostly for donuts but hey any other thing would suffice too) It’s like my head is saying something else but my heart is somewhere else…It is Truly in a way…my…Life…confusion… 😀
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Ha ha 🙂 This will be one of those times when there is no clear answer but a sweet solution! Enjoy your chocolate piece post meals and make them innovative!
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I don’t restrict myself too much. If I really feel like it, I just have it. I find doing it this way actually stop me from craving anything so badly. 😉
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That is a great philosophy 😀 Guilt-free indulgence is better than delayed miserable attacks.
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As per my experiences, self-control follows a self-regulating loop. When we begin to have self-control, it breeds better control, and the chain goes on. However, the control mechanism is quite delicate. It is just one craving away from getting broken. At the personal level, I spice up my routine by keeping well-spread cheat days. Once you hit that purple patch of an intense fitness regime, the metabolism shoots up, restricting the conversion of a cheat-day meal into fat. If this assurance is not enough, add one sprint for every additional calorie you take. Fitness is not about seeing an ice cream and controlling the urge to gulp it down, it’s about not getting that feel at all. That urge is like rubber, pushing it beyond it’s elastic levels will lead to an aggressive reversion.
P.S.: Traces of science exist in my comment. Blame it on my ongoing research :p
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I understood every bit of it 🙂 Last six months I have been reading a lot on fitness and nutrition too! Three weeks is what seems to work for me. A steady schedule of workout, and eating out and activity is what should make it tick.
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Well written
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Such a classy post 🙂 really melted my heart like a chocobar ice cream 😛 1 year without any ice cream seems a punishment but its good that you could do it 🙂 Great write up Prajakta 😉
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Classy sounds good 🙂 Thanks Darshith – it was difficult at first, but as natural as breathing till the end!
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Yes that’s life 😉 difficult at first but then natural as breathing towards the end 🙂
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I have this sweet tooth but it hard hard to avoid it and my love for rice 😂😂
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Oh… and cheese for me 😀
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