Unequal and opposite reaction

In retrospect, I may have been a tad too ambitious by saying I’d blog every day this week. What was I thinking? But I hate to break promises, so I’ll try to come up with things to talk about.

I’ll start with this weekend. It was a bit of good vs. evil with good pretty much prevailing.

Friday, I babysat. Oh the binge eating I did when I was a babysitter back in the day. Just like my exploits at the Ronald, there is something extra appealing about food that doesn’t belong to me. As a constant babysitter, I can remember pounding Cokes (we never had them in my house) and eating as many Girl Scout cookies and as much junk food as I could stomach. And then some. But, I had rules. I wouldn’t open anything new, and I wouldn’t finish anything. I would push the wrappers way down deep in the trash, hoping they wouldn’t discover them. I’m sure they never noticed half their food was gone, right?

I remember one babysitting gig when I was in about seventh grade. These people I sat for had a jar full of fun-size Snickers on their counter. Everyone knows the fun-size ones taste the best. There’s just something perfect about the peanut-to-chocolate-to-caramel ratio. I would eat one. Then go back for another. Then another. Then I’d try to arrange the jar so no one could tell how many were missing. Then I’d stuff the wrappers in my pocket. One day while sitting, I guess a wrapper had fallen out of my pocket without my noticing. When the mom got home, she picked it up and said “Oh, someone’s had a Snickers!”

She said this sweetly, without accusation. But I immediately went into defense mode. “Not me! I didn’t have any!” “Oh, OK,” she said. Obviously she knew. But why did I feel the reason to lie about it?

Interesting. I did not plan to tell that story. In fact, I haven’t thought of it in years. But I guess it was significant enough that it stayed with me for so long.

This past Friday, babysitting was different. I may have had a few too many roasted almonds, but for the most part, I avoided the kitchen and managed not to binge.

Saturday I went to a baby shower. Here’s the good vs. evil part. I declined the (seriously amazing) chocolate cake with peanut butter layers. I had a bite of a friend’s instead. That satisfied me. But I did eat roughly 8 billion mini quiches. I guess you can’t win them all.

Sunday I went to brunch with a friend and her mom. Every time I go to brunch, I debate ordering the eggs Benedict. Before Weight Watchers, I would never even think of getting something else. Though I think having the eggs Benedict is a lovely indulgence every once in a while, I had already done that with the mini quiches. So instead, I had an egg-white omelet with spinach, tomatoes and feta, wheat toast and fresh fruit. Not so bad.

Last night I grilled some extra chicken breasts so I’d be prepared for the week (always a tricky thing for me). I also made a new recipe—fat-free tzatziki sauce to use on meats and veggies. I’ll post the recipe tomorrow.

In the meantime, let me know how good has triumphed evil in your life lately.