One minute it was nestled in its covering of aluminum foil hanging out on the bottom shelf of my freezer, the next minute it was being sliced by a bread knife and then it was hanging out in my belly.  That slice was tasty, how about another? My boxer dogs were watching so they got a slice too.  Frozen pound cake has a really nice texture – who knew?  WAIT.  Why is that loaf now half a loaf?  Oh geez Louise.  More slicing takes place followed by a quick walk to the front porch where said slices are tossed to the cold wind for birds, squirrels, coyote (hey! anybody but me) to eat.

Did you get a good pic of this in your mind?  Have you ever done anything like this? YA. Me neither. HA! Yes folks, I ate a pound cake.  Oops!   It happens to the best of us.  Those darn frozen baked goods, just can’t trust them to stay put.

What did I do next? Did I pull my hair out? Thrash about beating my chest and crying woe is me?  Did I call myself a loser, an out of control pound cake eater? Did I pledge to drink nothing but water with a sprig of mint the rest of the day to make up for the pound cake train wreck?   NOPE.   It was a pound cake and shizz happens in life.  I don’t eat frozen pound cakes every day. Heck! I’ve challenged myself to eat more vegetables every day for goodness sakes.  So now what?

I wiped the crumbs from my mouth and went on about my day with awareness that what just happened, happened for a reason and I’ve got to fix it so it doesn’t happen again because let’s face it , it wasn’t one of my finer moments.   Although, it was pretty darn tasty.   Hey! it was pound cake.

So what happened?  Plain and simple, nothing mysterious at all.  No out of control addiction. Aliens didn’t take over my body.  I was HUNGRY.   I also love baked goods. If it is a cake or cookie I’m in love with it. I also know that said cakes, cookies and other “bread-like substances” or as I refer to them EBLS (extraneous bread-like substances) are my trigger foods and I will always be able to eat my body weight in them.

Hungry. If we allow ourselves to get too hungry, we don’t make great choices.  

Hungry and we have our trigger foods in the house = a train wreck waiting to happen. 

Where did I go wrong?  I went a bit too gung ho in my quest to eat more vegetables.  What I know about myself (and this is true for most individuals as well) that I must have protein, healthy fat and some fiber-rich carbs to keep myself satisfied and not hungry.  If I eat a big vegetable-only salad or a big plate of vegetables as my primary meal, I’m ready to eat the leg off the kitchen table (or a frozen pound cake) within an hour.  I know better, yet I screwed it up.  Some protein such as beans, a boiled egg, a chunk of cheese, some chicken and some healthy fat such as avocado, olives or walnuts would have turned my vegetables into a satisfying meal.  I simply didn’t eat enough. We must Eat if we want to make better food choices and have the body composition that we seek to improve or maintain.

Where else did I go wrong?  I broke my own rule. One that I established for myself, not because I’m weak, but because I’m Strong.  I kept a known trigger food in my house within easy reach.  Freezing doesn’t slow me down – I know that.  And yet, I got complacent.  We are all susceptible to our trigger foods no matter how well we’ve done with changing habits and making better choices.  I’m not a special snowflake. I knew better.   Don’t trick yourself into thinking that you can keep your poison in the house easy to grab and put it in the fast lane to your belly.   Don’t play games with it.   Be REAL with yourself about your trigger foods and choose to take control.  It isn’t weak to admit that you just can’t live with them under the same roof.  It is Strong to admit it and take action. With that said, I don’t ban my trigger foods from my life or my lifestyle eating plan.  I choose to not have them in my house.  If I want a piece of cake, I enjoy a slice of cake. I just don’t keep a cake in my house because I’m very REAL with myself: there is zero way I can keep an entire cake in my house and not eat the entire thing.  I’m in control and I get to choose who has the power. I choose me.

So, there you go.  I ate a pound cake.  I’ve learned, I’ve moved on.  No beating myself up or starving myself the rest of the day to “make up for it”.  After all, letting myself get Hungry was what led to the OOPs!

What is your OOPs! and what are you going to do about it?