Barb and I used to like a particular type of ice cream so much that we ate a quart or more of it several nights a week. It was the reward we gave ourselves for reaching exercise goals for that day. Then, on a fateful New Year’s Day, we decided to eliminate the chocolate chip mint ice cream from our diet – after more than 10 years of enjoyment. We were successful for 2 years. A leftover box after a birthday party got us re-started on the habit, and we even increased our intake over what it had been before – due to having deprived ourselves.
You can “starve” yourself of a food that you dearly love for an extended period of time. But at some time in the future, when the food is around and no one else is…you will tend to over-consume that food. The correction for this problem is the following:
1. I made a contract with myself. I could have a little of it whenever I wanted-while promising to be “reasonable”.
2. Setting a goal of enjoying one bowl a week, 5 years from now.
3. Four years from now, enjoying a bowl every 5 days
4. Three years from now, a bowl every 4 days
5. Learning to enjoy healthy sweet things, like fruit salads, energy bars, etc., as replacements.
It worked! I hardly ever eat any ice cream…but sometimes enjoy a bowl if I want. This is purely for medicinal reasons, you understand.