A very important part of my recent weight loss success, Modern Philosophers, is willpower.
I have three huge interns named Will whose only job is to punch me as hard as they can in the face or belly any time they see me reaching for a food I shouldn’t be eating.
At first, I lost more teeth than weight, but eventually, a survival instinct kicked in, and I learned to get along without whoopie pies, ice cream, and Chinese food.
Clearly, this plan has worked because I’ve lost 36 lbs and the will to eat anything that is even remotely bad for me.
Okay, you caught me.
That whole thing about interns named Will punching me is a lie. It’s obvious that it’s not the truth because I never take the time to get to know the interns’ names.
But willpower has truly been key to my slimming success.
I’ve basically complied a No Eat List, and I’m the only way on duty to make sure that any banned item does not board my digestive system.
It has been a very difficult fourteen weeks because the cravings come at me with such ferocity at times, and there’s no one at The House on the Hill to strap me down and keep me from running off to the store to buy the naughty foods.
I’ve had to depend on my willpower, and so far, it’s won the battle.
Today, however, I was up against a military giant with decades of battlefield experience under his stylish white suit.
I’m talking about Colonel Sanders.
My coworker was talking about her visiting father-in-law’s obsession with buckets of fried chicken.
The mere mention of the Colonel’s weapon of mass destruction had my mouth watering. Mind you, it was only nine in the morning, but already I wanted to get my hands on the stuff. It is finger lickin’ good, after all.
Seriously, all day long, I was thinking about fried chicken.
I was sure I was going to stop on the way home and pick up a bucket. What would be the harm? I went for a long run this morning, and was sure to collect my usual 20,000 steps over the course of the day.
Besides, chicken is protein. It’s good for you.
The fried outer coating merely protects the juicy, healthy meat from calories and fat, right?
There’s a KFC not far from The House on the Hill. In fact, one could even argue that it’s on the way home, if making one right turn where I usually go left is still considered to be “on the way”.
At one point, I even negotiated myself down from a giant bucket of the Colonel’s best to a four piece fried chicken meal available at the deli of my local grocery store.
Four pieces instead of a dozen sounded like a smart, healthy choice.
Willpower in action for sure!
On the drive home, the plan was still to stop for some yummy fried chicken. I’ve been so good for three months, and I was hungry.
I already had chicken waiting at home for me, but it wasn’t fried, didn’t come in a iconic bucket, and it had not be prepared for me by a Colonel.
One cheat night wasn’t going to ruin fourteen weeks of hard work.
When I got off the highway, the moment of truth was quickly upon me. Did I get into the left lane, which would lead me into the Hannaford parking lot, or did I stay right?
Somehow, I stayed right.
Then decision number two presented itself only blocks later. Make the right turn and go directly to KFC, or go left and head for the safety of The House on the Hill without collecting the bucket I craved so badly?
I went left.
Of course I did.
Was the ever a moment of doubt?
Remember my posts about being better at life and finding that extra gear? I did both tonight. I stayed on the righteous path and stuck with the healthy dinner that was waiting for my in the fridge.
Sure, I really wanted that fried chicken.
And there will be a night when I give in to that craving. Truth be told, I’ll probably succumb to the siren call of ice cream served over a whoopie pie first, but I will be sampling the Colonel’s famous recipe at some point.
Tonight, though, I am all about the willpower. Now I need to wrap up this post because writing about fried chicken is giving me the worst cravings…
What’s a food that tests your willpower? How do you fight the cravings?
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