Fighting the Moment

“No one has ever been raped by a donut” – Charles Poliquin

The other night, I was craving berries like crazy.  My mouth was watering and I could not put the thought out of my head.  I looked in the fridge and there were none.  I had two options. #1, I could throw on my boots and coat and head to the store to grab some, or #2, I could find something else to eat and go to bed.  I opted for choice #2.  I grabbed a handful of nuts and dried fruit, brushed my teeth, and went to bed.  When I woke up in the morning, the most amazing thing happened.  I was not dead!

In today’s world, we make eating food about more than just nourishing the body.  We crave food, whether for emotional reasons, social settings, or hormonal reasons – we want what we want.  I use to give in as well, and to be honest, sometimes I still do.  What I have learned over time though is that it all boils down to one simple thing, fighting the moment.  Say you are at a holiday party and there are brownies, cookies, and cakes in an assortment in front of you.  You could take one . . . or, you could grab the fruit bowl next to the desserts and enjoy that instead.  Grab the fruit, because I guarantee you that you will still be alive when you leave the party, and probably feeling better and in control because you were able to stand up to the food craving and fight the moment.  Plus, once the junk food is out of site and your stomach is no longer grumbling, the moment has passed and you have dominated it.

Here is the battle I see in a lot of people.  You have the desire to eat better, to feel better, lose weight, or put on lean mass.  You go full throttle ahead and determine that you are going to eat healthier.  You go out with friends who are drinking and enjoying the greasy buffalo wings with ranch dressing.  “Well, I have eaten good the rest of the day, I can have some wings.  It isn’t much”.  Then, in the morning, you are running out the door for work and have no time to eat.  By the time you get to the office, you are so hungry that you reach for the donut in the break room.  You justify it by telling yourself that you will eat better for the rest of the day.  You have an apple with some nuts for a morning snack, chicken salad for lunch, and the day is looking great.  Then, you meet up with a friend for afternoon coffee and because the friend is grabbing a piece of coffee cake, you do too.  Are you beginning to see the trend?  Even with good intentions, before you know it, you are right back to where you were before.  Eating what you crave, and not what is best for your body or your goals.

Last night, I picked up my boys from daycare and then we ran some errands.  They ate some Poliquin Primal Bars while we went from place to place.  Before I realized, it was late and getting close to their bedtime, and they were hungry.  I gave them an Isopure smoothie to share while we finished our way home and then reheated some fish for them for dinner.  On the way home, I passed Wendy’s, Burger King, Dominos, Little Ceasars, Subway, McDonalds, and who knows how many other “options”.  Sure it was tempting to stop off, but it was fighting those series of moment’s that got us home, without any fast food.

If you don’t make the decision to fight the moment, then you are going to forever be in the vicious circle of wanting your body to be a certain way and never reaching it.  It is your decision – just know that you can fight the moment.  You are in control.  Do not let a moment of weakness take you away from your goal.  It is just one moment in the large scheme of things.  One moment.