Thoughts On Being an Abstainer
One week down, six more to go! That is- I’ve finished a week of this diet, and have six weeks until my trip. At that point I’ll reassess the situation and decide if I’m going to attempt to stay on it while I travel, or loosen some of the restrictions. I don’t think I’ll be “done” at that point, but six weeks is a good mini-goal. Suzanne made an interesting comment on one of my posts- she said that the diet sounds challenging, but challenging things can be fun. And, she’s right! There is something fun about figuring out what I can eat, what works well and what doesn’t, and as an added bonus, it’s giving me some interesting things to think about. For example… I’ve noticed that when I want something I can’t have- let’s say black tea, or peanut butter, or fruit- it’s temporary. I’ll wish I could have it, have a short moment of sadness that I can’t, and then I pretty much forget all about it. But- this is only true because I’m abstaining completely. Here’s what happens if I’m trying to eat something in moderation: “I really want potato chips. No, I can’t have them- I’m only having them three times a week. I had some yesterday. If I don’t have them now, I can have some tomorrow. But maybe I won’t want them tomorrow! I could have them today, and then not for the next two days. But wait, maybe I’ll want some on Saturday…” Exhausting, isn’t it? I can literally go on and on like that FOREVER, or until I get tired of thinking about it and just eat the damn chips already. After a while I don’t have the energy for the whole rigamarole, and eat chips every day. In this situation, I embrace Oscar Wilde’s observation that the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Abstaining means deciding once, so I don’t have to decide every single day, over and over again. My mind is actually so much calmer now. It’s a relief not to have that internal debate constantly over what to eat. In that way, this is the easy part of the diet. The hard part will be when I’m thrown back into the world of decisions- that’s the part I messed up last time. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life on such a restricted diet, but I also don’t trust myself to make the right decision every single time. Is there a way to be a moderate abstainer? Weirdly, the only thing I can consume in moderation is alcohol. I LOVE a good IPA. I love going out with friends and having a beer. But then, I don’t want one again for a long time. I know if I had beer every day it wouldn’t be good for me, and I wouldn’t feel good. So why can’t I do that with food??? Sigh. Has anyone successfully changed from being an abstainer to a moderator? Is it possible? How is it done? How am I supposed to abstain for the rest of my life????? Top photo by James Smith on Unsplash