Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Attach if the killer food smells...

So yesterday morning, just before lunch, I was sitting there minding my own business at work when all of the sudden I was clobbered over the head with this luscious smell coming from the cube just next to mine. I had no idea what it was, but oh man did it smell wonderful!

So I started getting hungry.

I had a banana. But that didn't satisfy the cravings that had now sat in. It smelled like pot roast with gravy.

Well, by the time I made it home, I was ravenous. Mind you, I probably wasn't even hungry, but that was beside the point. I wanted to eat everything in the house.

I sat down to my turkey wrap (which, by the way I absolutely adore!) and a cup of yellow squash & onions I made the other day (see, I'm thinking ahead, planning my menus days in advance to I make sure to eat healthy).

That wasn't enough.

I fried an egg (in bacon grease, mind you).

Very tasty, but that didn't do the trick.

I drank half a bottle of water, but nothing doing, I was craving something, anything, as long as it was food.

I went to the cupboard and you know what I found?? Doritos!! Doh!!

We splurged a little this past weekend and had taco salad for dinner one night so there were Doritos left over. I grabbed the bag and plopped down on the couch and went to town on it.

My finger tips were covered in Doritos dust. It made me think of that commercial on tv where the lights go out and these two people sitting on the couch snacking on a bowl of some sort of cheesy crackers or chips look at each other as their fingers and mouth glow in the dark from the bright orange residue of the cheesy crackers. I swear, if the lights had out just then, you'd see me glowing with Doritos dust.

I went to town on the bag until maybe 50 chips were gone. Double-handed eating, too.

Then I stopped and started getting a little queasy. I think the turkey, mustard, lettuce, yellow squash & onions, fried egg and Doritos were at war with each other in my stomach (I don't know why).

I put the bag down and went and washed my hands and face. I put the bag back in the cupboard and walked away like nothing had happened. No one was here after all. No one saw it. Back to an old habit I had when I was a hundred pounds heavier. Some things will just plain haunt me my whole entire life.

Then last night for dinner, hubby wanted to go to the neighborhood deli. We get a 30% discount there so I was game. They have lots of healthy things to eat there, so I was covered.

Hubby got there first (I was stuck at work as usual) so he got to the restaurant first. When I finally got there, I sat down and he said "oh, no, I didn't know you were going to be here so soon, I ordered some potato skins to munch on until you got here".

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!

Potato skins with gobs of cheese and real bacon bits with tons of sour cream is one of my favorite appetizers--ever!

(I ordered orange-chicken salad with fresh veggies and a salad.)

I am so proud of myself. When the potato skins got to the table, I did not eat one of them. I didn't even pick at the tops of one of them to eat a bacon chip or anything. It was extremely difficult, but I resisted throughout the entire meal. Yes, there was one left on the plate and it sat there through the entire meal until hubby finally at it as "dessert".

So today just before lunch time I smell that heavenly smell again. I reached for my banana but then it hit me. That smell is what made me go crazy at lunch yesterday. It set me up for failure. It made me crave food--any food.

So I remembered that they'd sent a memo around about a month ago asking people to not eat at their desks (for this very reason). So I walked over and very kindly ask her to not eat food like that at her desk. I explained what the smell does to me and how it effected me yesterday. She totally understood and covered it up immediately. The smell went away and I did fine at lunch today.

Turkey wrap and squash & onions.

Whew. Disaster averted.


P.S. The food she was eating was home made lentil soup. I don't know how I got pot roast out of that, but that's what it smelled like to me. :]

8 comments:

Rosemary said...

Good job today averting your smell cravings!

I had those today myself at walmart...
but mine was donuts.

Thank goodness, I was already in the checkout before I smelled them!

Great post,
Rosemary

Dr Wednesday said...

OOOOH. Get the recipe! If it smelled that good to you... lentil soup is so on plan!

Good job on resisting those potato skins too.

Lauri said...

OMG! I can SO relate. I actually sit in my own office with my own exterior entrance, but on the other side of the back wall is the office staff lounge. (I have to go out of the building and back in another door to go to the main office that everyone else sits and to get to the lounge.) In that room is the fridge and the microwave. It is amazing the smells I get in my office. Some of them are SOOO yummy smelling I have to go explore to find out what it is. Like you, I get some of the strangest ideas of what I think it is compared to what it actually is. And then there are the smells that cure my hunger pains! (I'm always afraid to know what I'm smelling then!) But the worst is nearly every morning when I take the morning report into dispatch, someone is making some kind of bread product in the toaster oven. Ohhh man. And when I comment about how good it smells, whoever is toasting offers to share. But they all know what I'm doing, so I stay strong and say no thank you, and then go back to my office and drink an Atkins shake for breakfast. (I always save it for after the report for that very reason.)

jinxxxygirl said...

Hey! Whats hubby doing eating potato skins anyway??? LOL! Now my hubby is not on a diet in any way shape or form so i have to resist those temptations all the time. Especially when we eat out. At home he's been so good about not having sweets in the house and any other of my 'trigger foods'.
Smells don't get to me much i guess. We have potlucks at work all the time that i walk away from.
I guess i see this differently. If food is allowed at the work station then she should be able to eat what she wants. Somebody having trouble with their diets because of what her food smells like is really their problem and not hers. No? At least thats how i would feel if i was her. And i would find you coming over there saying you can't handle the smell of her food incredibly rude. To me other people should not have to change because we decided to change our way of life. That smell did not set you up for failure. You have to learn how to handle it. We all do in the face of our trigger foods. I just wonder what made you and the management of where you work decide it was okay to restrict what people could eat at their desk for lunch based on how scrumptious it smelled?
You did a great job with the potato skins girl! It would have been difficult to not even have one! LOL! My struggle is when we have the bread basket at the table and i allow myself only one and hubby sits there and eats the rest and maybe another basket ! Your doing great Cara. Love your bike riding stories. Makes me want to dig out my bike....if only i had a great place to ride like you. Jinx!

JC said...

Man, I had it when one of my staff brings in lunch because they couldn't manage to eat while they were on their lunch hour. I completely understand about the smells triggering you. Glad you realized what it was and were able to take the correct measures. Loaded potato skins would be so very hard for me to resist. Great post.

SeaShore said...

Well done on not eating the potato skins! I know I would have :(

Sneak eating is something that I think will always haunt me, too.

MaryFran said...

I can sooo relate to yoru post. It has my name written all over it!

Huge kudos for resisting the appetizer! HUGE victory!

Kathi said...

Cara,

You husband posted a comment on my blog about you and I had to stop by for a visit. It was so great to read this post because like you, I carry that beast inside of me. I think it will always be a part of me since I have the past of being a very over weight person. But that does not mean it is a death sentence for us. We must learn new way to cope. And you did just that what a great life lesson. I am so glad you shared it and I look forward to reading your posts. Stop by my site some time. kbosilovatz.blogspot.com