"Slinky Malinki was blacker than black, a stalking and lurking mischievious cat" - Slinky is one of my favourite children's book characters - he's also a bit of a "Criminal Cat" which is a family nickname for me as I've had one too many speeding tickets in the past - pleased to say that I haven't leadfooted it for awhile...
Lynley Dodd also wrote a second Slinky book called "Open The Door" and my post today is about NOT opening the door in and letting the Food Beast or your Inner Gollum into your psyche to play games with you. The Food Beast is a sneaky creature and it is always waiting, whether you are in comp prep mode or not ..." you're tired, you deserve this", "here, eat this it will make you feel better". The Food Beast is elusive and will strike when you have let your guard down, let the door open and make you believe that you're suggesting negative eating behaviour which in turn leads you to beat up on yourself when you "fail" yet again.
The take home message is not to let your guard down, to stay awake and to understand that even "moderation" has its own set of rules. Moderation is not about going hell for leather in the kitchen because the Beast has masqueraded as your Higher Self and suggested that intuitively, you really need the sugar fix. Decide how you're going to live and stick with it - make a Charter of your own Laws! Today, I'm feeling particularly tired and when I get really tired, the door begins to swing open. In the spirit of keeping it firmly shut, I'm off to have my planned dinner and some fresh fruit for dessert.
With a competition so close, this Criminal Cat is staying on the right side of her own Charter of Laws....
So what's your Charter?
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2 comments:
I was JUST struggling with the same thing! Came home after five hours of non-stop shopping -- driving and walking, making decisions as quickly as possible, suppressing fear in the face of (necessary) spending -- and "decided" that I "needed" some "extra" calories, and ate my favorite comfort concoction: homemade yogurt with slivered almonds and honey. Good food, but more calories than I planned on for today. I had even had a big breakfast to gird me for my outing, but I 'stayed too long at the fair', waiting too long for food and a few minutes break.
As for what my 'Charter' is, I'll have to think about that. Though I've tried to be careful about my food intake for a long time, I'm only on the 20th day of actually counting/restricting calories and it is making me think a lot about freedom and discipline, about self-control, procrastination, distraction, instant gratification, long-term gratification, etc... I think I MIGHT try focusing on the concept of freedom, since it's such a positive word, and try to yoke it securely to delayed gratification. In this sense, I equate 'freedom' with the freedom I feel when I look good - the freedom of moving confidently, easily, in any physical sphere I choose, and the freedom from self-loathing (as I felt for so many years) when I look at myself in the mirror, naked.
My favorite part of your post: "the Beast has masqueraded as your Higher Self and suggested that intuitively, you really need the sugar fix". Intuitively. Hilarious. I used to actually justify my potato chip noshing in a very similar fashion!
We got the dog one, Hairy Maclary.
Did you know she did the art work herself too?
I will look for the cat ones I did not know they exist. We a 6 in 1 book of Hairy Maclary, it's so funny to my 4 y.o.
:-))
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