Don't Let Guilt Eat Those Cookies .....

Eat them yourself!

At least, if you ARE going to eat them, tell guilt to beat it, sit down, look at the beautiful cookie, cake, bowl of ice cream, piece of candy - sniff it, admire it, take a little nibble and let it tickle your tongue, let its flavor fill your mouth. Take a real bite. Chew it slowly. Notice the first flavor, the main flavor and the aftertaste. Swallow the whole bite. Think about how good it is. Think about how lucky you are to be rich enough to have this treat. Imagine a time before there even was sugar. Imagine a time when salt was so expensive that a whole bevy of folk lore grew up around it. Say thanks for the treat. Say thanks for your personal wealth. Say thanks for the wealth of our society. And then ... take your second bite.

Because if you can't do that with your treat - is it even a treat?

I'm thinking of all the treats and goodies and sweets and cheeses that I consumed over Christmas - the ones that added 4 extra pounds to my not-too-delicate frame. And I can't remember the pleasure of any of them except Christmas Dinner - when I really DID eat like that.  And Christmas Dinner was a real treat!

ALL the other treats were consumed rapidly, with Guilt at my side, whispering the lie that "If you eat it fast enough the calories wouldn't have time to linger on your belly." or "Hurry, hurry. If nobody sees you eat this, did you really eat it?"  So instead of admitting that that Ferrero Rocher was the chocolaty delight it was and honoring it with true eating respect, I popped it into my mouth, bit down once, chewed rapidly and poof! It was gone. All the pleasure was gone but Guilt hung around like a school bully, smirking at me, double dog daring me, TRIPPLE dog daring me to do it again. And I did.

And you know ... that sucks. And now that it's January and I'm trying to resist all kinds of Other Treats because - hey. I'm rich. (and you don't have to be much richer than to have $1.98 in your pocket) The stores are full. (and the Valentine's Day candy is already out on the shelves)  - I keep trying to remember any of those bites, licks and tastes and I am so mad that I can't. Except the Roast Beef Dinner - which I can remember with that slightly swoony feeling. I don't need another Roast Beef Dinner - with Yorkshire Pudding - any time soon, because I can still go back and remember how good the one I had 2 weeks ago was.  

Huh. Well. That does it. I vow - as one of my 2016 New Year's Resolutions – From now on I will eat all the  treats I want just so long as I'm willing to give them the attention they deserve. From this day forward, I intend to get 100% of the pleasure out of any treat I eat and Guilt will get none. I will never again let Guilt get all the pleasure while I have all the shame. By golly, if I'm going to pack on 4 pounds it's going to have been so worth it.