Mar 19
Stuck in the Washer
The other night I was sitting at my computer, typing away, when I heard a loud thud followed by plaintive meowing. As everyone who is owned by cats knows, these are not good sounds. I went to investigate and found my one year old orange tabby, Alexander, stuck in the top-loading clothes washer. Heaven knows what enticed him to jump in there in the first place, but once he was in, he couldn’t get out. I rescued him and went back to work.
About half an hour later, he did it again. And twenty minutes later, another thud and another meow. For my sanity and his safety I finally shut the washer door. But the situation got me to thinking. Alexander is not a stupid cat, but he made the same mistake three times within the space of an hour.
Similarly, I am not a stupid woman, but when it comes to dieting, I tend to make the same mistakes and get myself “stuck” over and over. For instance, yesterday was my “cheat day.” I had a reasonable lunch with a colleague. Then, on the way home from work, I stopped and bought myself a large chocolate Easter Bunny. And even though I was full and it didn’t really even taste that good to me, I ate every mouthful. I don’t even want to think about how many calories were in that thing! If I had enjoyed every one of them, it would have been one thing, but I kept eating when I wasn’t enjoying myself. How silly is that?
Maybe I need to learn a lesson from my cats–and believe me, it wouldn’t be the first–and stop making the same mistakes and expecting different results. From now on, while I am putting food in my mouth, I will be aware of the signals my body is sending me. If it doesn’t taste good or if I’m not hungry, I’ll stop eating. Period.
