The Morning of Temptation

It has come to my attention that I don't spend enough time talking about my wifes role in the Becoming Timberman process. And no, it's not because she said something. She's actually out of town again this weekend as her BU Terriers take on the Mercyherst Gonna-Lose-to-Terriers's (I don't know their actual mascot, so I made up one that fits the occasion) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women's Hockey championship. Actually, it came to me this morning how important she really is in this process as I ate my second bagel of the day.

I don't talk about my day job much, mostly because it doesnt usually play a direct role in my training or racing; plus I like that I have it, and I don't want to lose it. It's a good job that affords us the wonderful life we have. But I have a love/hate relationship with this place come Friday morning. At most jobs, Friday is the best morning, but here it's the Morning of Temptation.

The Morning of Temptation (yes, it is bold and capitalized) is the day each week where the company springs for bagels for all of the departments. They take their bagels seriously too; several different varieties from a major name brand of bagels, plus all the "fixins":

I showed the boxes only, the bagels are too powerful for the naked eye.

The bagel processing station

When you're fat and like food, temptation is everywhere. But the temptation is worse when it's free and considered a benefit by the company. It's sort of the opposite of smoking, drinking, or doing drugs.  You generally don't see employers offering their employees free cigarettes, free booze, or some crack to start the day. While they are difficult addictions; people have successfully quit them and lived. I don't know anyone who has quit eating entirely and managed to live. I'm no food addict, but clearly there are some interesting comparisons to be made.

Now that I've relayed the crux of the Morning of Temptation; let me share how I usually slay this dragon: With a nice big bowl of shredded mini-wheats and the help of my wife. Mini-wheats are sort of the oatmeal of summer; filling and slow-burning. Most mornings I can get by until lunch with just a bowl of cereal and some juice (and the obvious jolt of caffeine). This morning, I opened the fridge to a near empty milk jug, so it knew it was going to be a bagel for breakfast.

I could have tried to go without, but it's even harder being hungry and knowing they're there; waiting for you to come eat them. So I came up with a bold and ingenious lazy plan. Since I was probably going to eat one anyways; I brought the turkey and miracle whip light i use for my lunches with me to turn the bagels into breakfast and lunch sandwiches. With the exception of the toaster, I successfully avoided the "bagel processing station", and had a healthy-ish breakfast sandwich. According to Dotties Weight Loss Zone (one of the best sites on the web for those looking to lose weight), plain Panera bagels are a measly 6 points each. A mere 2 ounces of creme cheese almost doubles the points, so turkey is a great substitute.

Unfortunately, I followed that sandwich up with a second just like it. When my discipline fails like this, my thoughts usually turn to my wife. Weight loss by yourself is nearly impossible. No matter how hard you work, no matter how disciplined your eating; if you don't have someone to stand in front of and say "today I weigh X which is X pounds more or less than last week", you're going to slide at some point. This is when having someone who cares about and supports your progress really pays off (and why group based weight loss systems why Weight Watchers are effective).

When you're away from that person for a while, thoughts start to pop into your head. Thoughts like "It was only 8 points so far today, another 8 still gives you plenty for the day", and "She won't be back until tomorrow. You're going to work out tonight, you can work it off then".  Then there's the real role she plays. When I don't feel like doing it for me, and the thought of gaining and having to tell someone isn't enough to keep me away from the snacks; I think about doing it for her.

There's a movie coming out called "She's out of my league". I get to live the real life version of this comedy every day with Rachelle. When I need motivation I look at my smart, funny, kind, gorgeous, and athletic wife. I got her, and that tells me I can do anything.

Back off fellas, she's spoken for.

Even if that thing is surviving the Morning of Temptation.