Posts Tagged ‘changing behaviors’
Declaring Idiot
“Idiot,” he spat out as if cursing. We were biking on a trail as a group and the approaching rider objected to how long it took one of our riders to yield space for him to pass.
An exclamation such as that reveals a lot more about the person expressing it than it does about the person who offended them. If “Idiot” is the first thought on his mind, I suspect his heart is not overflowing with love for others on a regular basis.
Now, it is certainly possible that he was just having a bad day and I was judging him harshly with my interpretation, but the principle stuck with me enough that I am still remembering it weeks later. Plus, our group ended up using the term “idiot” in a playful way the rest of the week as a default response to a wide variety of situations, fittingly or sarcastically absurd.
If one of my friends accidentally bumped me when slipping past my back? “Idiot,” was the response, quickly followed with a silly smile. I think I was attracted to the way such a response would stand out as being so ridiculous when applied to every situation. Maybe it’s not the best (first) thing to say to someone you don’t know who has just offended you.
I suppose saying “I wish you would move over sooner” takes too long to say when you are traveling in opposite directions.
Yesterday, the weather up at the lake was an idiot. Chilly, wet, windy, and gray all day long. We got a photo from home that showed Asher fawning for the camera.
He may have been showing how he felt about the weather since the report from Beldenville sounded very similar to what we were experiencing in Hayward.
Send folks you meet a little extra love today. Maybe if enough of us practice behaving in this way more regularly, we can counterbalance those who allow their frustrations to tarnish the surroundings when things aren’t going their way.
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Imperfect Improvement
Five years. It’s been almost five years since I saw the 2014 documentary movie, “Fed Up” and decided once and for all to commit to a long-term intentional change to address my uncontrolled craving for sugar. (See “My Addiction“) My solution was admittedly an imperfect one, but I have very slowly achieved a noticeable improvement throughout the ensuing years.
One of the imperfections of my plan to take command of that insidious nagging urge to eat something that will produce the intoxicating dopamine reward is that I allow myself to have a little sweet treat or treats every day. I liken it to trying to live a sober life while still continuing to have an alcoholic drink every day, (no disrespect intended to those who are working a program to manage alcohol or any other substances). From my understanding, total abstinence is the more effective practice.
Since there are natural sugars in plenty of foods, total avoidance of sugar is an extreme I chose not to pursue. After watching “Fed Up,” my plan was to avoid the added sugar in processed food, especially in cases where it is well hidden and unexpected. I was surprised to learn how much sugar might be included in buns and some types of bread, in sauces, dressings, and yogurts, to name a few.
I decided to start paying attention to labels and serving sizes and plotted to achieve the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Food and Drug dietary guidelines of 10% of daily calories consumed.
Based on an oft-referenced 2000 calorie per day average (your mileage may vary) that amounts to 200 calories or roughly 50 grams of sugar per day. I decided to aim for 10 grams of sugar per my three main meals. That gave me a full 20 grams of headroom to account for variations and a modest cookie or dessert bite for moments of rewarding bliss.
One serving size of a Girl Scout S’mores® cookie equals two cookies coming in at 16 grams of sugar. I eat just one.
These S’mores taste incredibly sweet to me. One welcome improvement over the five years of measured sugar intake is that I have developed a heightened sensitivity to sweetness. That’s probably one of the things that helps me to be able to stop at just one cookie per serving.
It’s an imperfect formula that I’ve settled on, but since I started this practice, I have controlled my hemoglobin A1c levels and avoided the all-too-typical annual weight gain that normal aging usually brings on.
The craving? It’s still a constant companion, but one that has become much easier to contain, …one measured serving at a time.
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Relative Something 