Resisting Temptation and WIAW

This morning started with a delightfully quick two-mile jog. Terry and I hopped on the treadmills at our apartment's gym and kept the pace super light (about 6 mph for me). Unfortunately, my foot had a funny pain during the run, so I walked about 5 minutes in the middle and started up again after it felt better. Weird, but hopefully it won't happen during the 10-K this weekend!

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For breakfast, I whipped up some smoothies with banana, strawberries, blackberries, yogurt, milk, and peanut butter. 

I sprinkled a little almond butter granola on top for a little crunch. Yeah, I get fancy sometimes.

I packed up my lunch and realized it probably wouldn't be enough to keep me full throughout the day:

But I didn't have time to pull together anything else, so that was it. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the day turned out to be so crazy busy that I didn't have time to feel super hungry.

But this lunch creation was amazing! I brought a container of granola and some milk in a mason jar. Cereal in the middle of the day? Does it get better than that? I also ate half my apple before my last class.

Not surprisingly, I was starving by the time I arrived home. I grabbed two brown rice cakes and dipped 'em in eggplant hummus. Simple, delicious.

And the rest of my apple with a little almond butter and honey.

The highlight of today's meals was most certainly this delicious veggie-stuffed quesadilla. 

I even made the tortillas from scratch! Not too tough to do, and I actually reduced the recipe to only make four tortillas instead of the usual 12, so the process was quick. 

I sauteed up some plain spinach, shredded a combination of Manchego and cheddar cheeses, and used a Y-peeler to make some zucchini ribbons. Such a GREAT way to squeeze in some veggies!

I was particularly proud of myself tonight, because I planned ahead (as opposed to my pathetic but delicious lunch) when I knew dinner wouldn't be the healthiest of choices. Our dinner meeting tonight offered a certain fast food, and I made the choice to avoid it altogether. I cooked up these cheesy delights beforehand, ate at home, and didn't feel the need (or desire, really) to join in the meal at the meeting. And since it was a meeting, not just a dinner, my choice not to partake in the food wasn't awkward for me or anyone else. I doubt anyone even noticed.

Don't get me wrong--I definitely perused the table and even thought about getting a plate of the fried rice and chow mein, but I recognized that I had eaten a very filling meal and that I really didn't want or need anymore food. I walked away from the buffet table, and within a few minutes of working with my group I wasn't even thinking about the food anymore.

Well, at least that was true until they brought out the cake.

You know I had a piece of that deliciousness! And it really was great cake, too. Simple, but so good--yellow cake with whipped cream frosting. Light and creamy and perfect. But temptation struck again when I was done with my first piece and saw all these extra pieces sitting there, begging to be eaten. They were perfectly sized, too, so that one more wouldn't have been outrageous. But I'm trying to work on my portion sizes, and I managed to say no.

Resisting temptation is still a struggle for me. I genuinely love food--don't we all?--and I have a hard time stopping at just one or saying no or quitting when I'm full. I'm also a big social eater. Just last week at our staff development day I resisted the donuts for about two hours and then went for it. I didn't need one and had packed plenty of snacks, but still I indulged.

Of course, indulging is fine now and then, and I don't think I overdo it very often, but I am still trying to improve my willpower. I think 4 pm and after dinner are my most tempting times. I come home from work and just want to snack like a maniac. It'd be one thing if I would come home and eat berries or yogurt or an apple. But of course I would much rather snack on pita chips, cupcakes, bread and cheese, and chocolate. And after dinner I have my usual dessert but could certainly tone down the portion size.

So I'm working on it. I get so proud of my little victories, like tonight, and they motivate me to make better choices the next day. It's not about not eating, it's about choosing healthy foods and only eating when I'm hungry, indulging once in awhile instead of all the time. On the other side of that is not pulling excuses like "I'm too busy to eat" the way I did today (can you tell I'm pissed at myself for that one?), but I'll save that for another time.

Hope you had a terrific Wednesday!

How do you resist temptation? Even non-food-related advice can apply here!