Novelty and Habit
Here is another angle on human nature that makes "cleaning up" so difficult. Novelty is what keeps people on a diet for the first few weeks. When you do something new, it's "interesting". The only way to keep momentum is to turn the novel things into habits.

Novelty can work for bad habits, too. When you cheat the first time (eat bad foods, skip a workout), the "novelty" of the act makes it stand out in your mind. You feel bad about it. Unfortunately, the second cheat is easier... and the third easier still.

Time is your friend in both cases. The longer you practice good habits, the more reinforcement you receive. The more time you put between the "bad decisions" the easier it will be not to make them because novelty returns.

Schedule Shakeup
Everything has been a bit off this week. I needed a break from work so I accepted some co-worker's invitation to go eat Vietnamese today. I had grilled chicken with rice and a salad with no dressing... but I have no clue how many calories I ate...

We just bought a new couch and loveseat for the livingroom -- It was delivered today. It's SO much more comfortable than the crappy thing we bought a few years ago. I had to leave work early to help get the old one out of the house... so that threw off my schedule... I completely missed my afternoon snack.

At home, I chowed down on TWO snack packs of cookies and milk. Sigh... I've been doing that a lot lately.

I ended up working from home for the afternoon... My wife and I were supposed to go out for our anniversary dinner, but the babysitter called to say she had strep. Oops. Oh well. We packed the kiddo along and went to Mimi's Cafe instead of our nice dinner down town. Our little boy, who normally can't sit still to save his life, was very well behaved at the restaurant. That was worth more than any fancy dinner.

Anyway - Good choices on the dinner - Blackened Salmon with baked potato (dry) and broccoli and water to drink. But then I ate two slices of banana bread and a piece or two of the mini french loaf with butter.... and I ate a few "Trader Joe's Meringue Cookies" when I got home. They're like sugar puffed air... not many calories, but still. I don't need that kind of snack right now.

Choices
I need to put some distance between my bad choices. This is going to be especially difficult this weekend because we're headed out to Catalina for a mini vacation. Hmmm... What can I do?

Well... to start, I'm planning to pack a cooler with my fruit and cottage cheese, but I'm sure we'll be eating out for our major meals. I should probably make my usual Flax PBJ for breakfast... maybe two - one for tomorrow morning.

I don't know if I'll have internet out on the island, but I'll scribble down my foods just in case.

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Holy cow! I just looked back at the comments on yesterday's blog. I actually felt kind of pathetic for carrying on about my day like that *laugh* It really wasn't all THAT bad. Thanks for all of the positive vibes guys. I promise everything is just grand here -- All of that silliness will just wash away by morning. We'll be on a fast boat to the relaxing resort town of Avalon on Catalina Island We're all really looking forward to the trip!