Today is Day 8 of my challenge, and though it has been difficult, it has thus far been successful. I won’t lie – there have been several instances where I have wanted to simply give it up. And if I were to continue on with my little experiment through tomorrow, that’s precisely what I would have done. Instead, I have thought of another solution:
Tomorrow, 22 February, will be an exception day in my 30-day challenge. It will not be an exception day in that I will be able to eat whatever the hell I want; no, rather it will be an exception day where I will take part in my father’s birthday celebration, which will require eating some homemade foods that will contain dairy and/or processed foods, as well as cake.
Of course, I could try to restrain myself and continue my challenge in spite of these celebrations, but I know myself too well to think that I would last. If I were to try to restrain myself, the regret of not having eaten such delicious food during a familial celebration – an infrequent occurrence as it is – would gnaw at me incessantly, until I completely caved in and binged on unhealthiness – thereby completely negating whatever progress I have made – well before the deadline date. Instead, I think it would be better to put on pause my challenge for one day to appease my family (and myself), and then to recommence the moment the celebrations have come to an end.
Now, a few rules (of course) regarding this exception day:
- The exception applies only to the duration of the celebratory birthday dinner; it does not apply to the rest of the day, throughout which I will have to maintain my healthy vigil.
- The exception does not apply to leftovers. I can eat the food that is in front of me while sitting at the table during the celebratory dinner; however, the moment the celebrations have ceased, the exception expires. Even if there is leftover deliciousness (and especially if there is leftover cake) in the fridge, I am not to touch it, irrespective of how much I want to.
- The exception is not an invitation to pig out on unhealthy deliciousness. I have to restrain myself from completely pigging out. I will eat a little bit of everything (no more – though of course no less – than anyone else at the table), and then will force myself to be satisfied.
- As a result of the exception day, the overall challenge end date will have to be pushed back one day, and will now be 16 March, 2012.
And now that this prospect awaits me, I most excitedly await tomorrow evening.
But Iam interested to know the following: do you guys think this is fair? Or will my doing this completely undermine the challenge, thereby resulting in a failure? Do you think that, if I want to take part in tomorrow’s celebrations, I should begin the challenge anew?
Let me know!
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