Treat. Doesn't that word immediately make you happy? I think of an unexpected ice cream cone, Halloween candy, or a caramel apple. An indulgence. A reward. Sometimes you get it from someone, sometimes you give it to yourself.
I have recently upped the ante on my journey to (hopeful) lifelong health. About a year ago, I had my labs drawn for the first time in my life. Despite the fact that I was still carrying some extra poundage, I fully expected my numbers to be stellar. Why? Because I am in very good health, because I exercise regularly, because I have given up many processed foods, pop, and candy. The only thing my doctor has to gripe at me about is my weight. My blood pressure is good, my family history is healthy. Of course I should have great numbers.
My numbers were really all good, all within the normal range. But I had a few readings that were closer to the boundary than I would have liked. This scared me. Because if I tack 10 years onto my life, what will those numbers look like? 10 years from now, I will be approaching 50 (!!), and I can imagine that my metabolism will slow, and I will likely pack on a few more pounds. I realized that unless I make some changes, those numbers will be closer to the boundary or even over the boundary. I don't like that idea one bit.
So, after watching the success a close friend of mine had on Weight Watchers, I decided to give it a whirl. I can tell you that in 10 weeks, I have lost nearly 17 pounds, putting my total weight loss over the past 2.5 years at 35 pounds. I am approaching my "wedding weight", which wasn't necessarily something to write home about (although I am pretty pumped), and I have my sights set on my high school weight, which all of a sudden seems possible now.
That is not the moral of this blog post, though...I am setting up the story.
Being on Weight Watchers requires careful tracking and monitoring of the foods you are eating. You get a certain number of 'points' each day, and when your points are gone, you can put no more into your mouth. Of course, there are loopholes and exceptions, but, by and large, this is how it works. This process has taught me to make choices. "Do I REALLY want to spend 15 points on a small Blizzard at DQ?" That would be more than 1/2 of the points I get in a day. So, upon doing my research, and finally understanding why, despite running sometimes 10 miles per week, I wasn't losing weight. I was eating way more points each day than I should have been.
Which brings me to my title...How to treat a treat.
There are days, oh, there are days, I would love to go back to my old ways. Days where I want to treat myself. Days where I know I deserve something special, something tasty. And, usually, I allow myself one day each week where I do treat myself. This is the only way I can stay on-point for the rest of the week. But as the week wears on, I find myself falling into the mind-trap that I should have a treat every day. As I sit in the Panera drive-thru, knowing I should get the 3-point chicken soup, but WANTING the 9 point Mac and Cheese with the 9 point Sierra Turkey Sandwich, I realize that I have been 'treating' myself every. single. day. prior to these past 10 weeks. Because one day I would eat that, another day, I would eat a personal pizza. And I thought nothing about 'treating' myself to a blizzard at DQ. I realized that 'treats' are around every corner...in every convenient fast food restaurant, in every grocery store, in the breakroom at work, and heck, even in my desk drawer.
And, WHY, do I need to have all of these treats? Have I done something special every day to deserve them? Am I like a puppy who has done a trick to ear a treat?
100 years ago, we didn't have such quick and immediate access to treats. Heck, 50 years ago, we didn't either. In those days, sugar was the treat...sugar used to bake a cake for a special occasion, or to bake a batch of cookies. 50 years ago, we didn't have an obesity epidemic or Type 2 diabetes spiraling out of control in our population. We didn't have cases of pop to buy and bring home to put in the refrigerator. There really wasn't fast food, and there certainly wasn't any such thing as "supersize me". When you went out to eat, you didn't get enough food for two meals.
I am learning to allow myself a treat, one treat, each week. I can save that treat for a special occasion...a wedding, a night out for dinner, or a party. Or I can have my treat on a day when my cravings are just too intense. But that's it. It's back to the grind. I am learning to be grateful that I have healthy food to put into my body, and that I don't need (or deserve) to treat myself daily. I am learning to make choices about what I am eating. I am learning that when I am craving a treat the most, I can usually try a piece of fruit or string cheese first. More often than not, that is good enough. I am learning to treat a treat like a treat should be treated (that was funny, don't you think?)
And then, I start thinking about how our society seems to be entitled to have treats.
And that is a whole 'nother blog post.
