Small Victories and Acceptable Cheats

At work, for the last three weeks, I have dreaded going down the hallway to the washroom. And before you get all worried about the content having anything to do with washroom activities let me assure you it doesn't. But it does have everything to do with the one thing that has really been annoying me for the last month or more - my lack of willpower.

You see, one of the women in one of the offices that share the hallway with both my office and the washroom has been attempting to sell chocolate covered almonds (as a fund raiser for worthy offspring, no doubt) for the last three weeks. And so, for the last three weeks, I have had to harden my resolve, leave my money in my desk (when I head out to "spend a penny") and do everything in my power to stop myself from buying "evil in a box".

Since I really love both chocolate and almonds I have to admit it was rather challenging. On a couple of occasions my resolve wavered and I put a couple of dollars in my pocket before heading down the hallway but every time, I left the money in my pocket and the chocolate in the hall and proved (if only on a really small scale) that I do have some willpower.

As of Thursday this week, the chair that held the box that contained the "evil in a box" no longer sat, temptingly in the hallway. No longer was the temptation lurking around the corner as I made my way to the washroom - finally, I had safe passage - I was so relieved.

So, what's the point - you may be wondering - why share with whoever is reading my WC willpower? The answer is simple, I want to celebrate it as a Small Victory.

I bang on about how hard it is to keep to a training and nutrition regimen but I don't stop to celebrate when I manage to do something that helps get me to my goal. Or more to the point in this case, I manage to NOT do something that would detract from my stated aim.

Recognizing the Small Victories are probably more important than underlining all the failures that happen in a week. If you say to someone - "Don't think about the elephant in the room" ultimately the only thing they will think about is the pesky pachyderm.

So rather than listing off the things that went wrong, I want to emphasize the things that went right!

To that end, I have to state that I had some "evil in a bag" this week - HOWEVER I don't see it as a failure, because rather than the family sized bag of Old Dutch Baked Dill Pickle Chips I had a small bag (only 50 Calories!) - and I have considered this an Acceptable Cheat.

Though I do feel that abstinence (when it comes to junk food) is best, if the craving really strikes I have devised a series of what I term Acceptable Cheats that allow me to give in to my craving without completely sabotaging my progress or leaving me feeling like I need to spend the next several weeks berating myself for my lack of self control.

I hope this new approach will help get me where I want to go; so here's to Small Victories & Acceptable Cheats! May the former be plentiful and the latter as few as possible!