My Second Cup is Black.

Every morning I have one P*E*R*F*E*C*T cup of coffee.  I get my green Jadeite Fire King Coffee mug off the shelf, the one from the 1940's when serving sizes were "normal", not on "steroids" like they are today, and I put it on the food scale (after pre-warming the mug with hot water, of course!).  Then I pour exactly 30 grams of real Half and Half in my cup (2 TBSP), and put 1 packet of Splenda in.  I pour the steaming just-brewed coffee in, to the top, and then I sit at my computer and say "Hello" to you all with a healthy breakfast and my perfect cup of coffee.  It is a piece of art.  It is just the color I like it, the same color I painted my bedroom walls because I am OBSESSIVE about a good cup of coffee.

And then, as it inevitably happens, I find I have sipped the last sip.  Sadly, my coffee cup is empty. 

And that is always when it happens.  Every day, mind you.  The voice.  You know the one "just have another small cup.....a little more half and half won't kill you...it's just a little half and half....."

Every morning.  Without fail.  I laugh when I hear it because no matter how long I've been practicing my Habits of Health, my thoughtlife always continues to push the limits, to challenge me.  I would have thought my thoughtlife, that inner-brat, would have given up by now on this one, but she hasn't.

So what do I do?

Do I have that second little cup with just a little half and half in it, and count it as my healthy fat for the day since I counted the first cup as my condiments?  I mean I COULD work it in, technically, to my plan, then adjust my entire day around it.  I COULD do that.  It would technically be on plan.

No, I don't.  And the reason is simple.  I recognize that voice.  It is the voice of "more, more, more...." and so first thing in the morning, with my very first challenge, I shut it down.  I set the tone for the day.  Because that choice WILL set the tone for the day, and my two "tones" I can choose between are:  Stay On Plan no matter what you WANT to do, or the second tone of:  Indulge your wants.  It's just a little bit.  Sure you can count it as a healthy fat, then just kind of forget about that later and have beef, because really, this little amount isn't going to hurt anything in the long run....."

I'll tell you what it will hurt in the long run.  It is about being faithful in the little things, staying on track at the times you think no one (including yourself) is really looking.  And the result of very small deviations from my course would actually, repeated daily, over time, take me to an entirely different destination than the one I want to go to.

Imagine if I were an airplane going on a day-long flight, to such and so place.  Very early on in the day, I make a 1 degree deviation in my course.  It is just 1 degree.  No big deal.  I mean there are 100 degrees, right?  As long as I get the other 99 or so right, I should be fine!  So, I'll be great for the other 99, and I'm "mostly on-track" for the day.  And here is the problem.  As time passes through the day, the after effects of the lil' 1 degree course deviations take me to a different place than where I was going.  But it also sets the tone for another 1 degree deviation later on in the day, if I feel like it.  I mean I've already satisfied the inner-brat once, and she SHOULD be actually satisfied and it SHOULD keep her quiet for the rest of the day.....

But it never does.

In fact, when I feed that inner-brat, her voice gets louder and comes more often.  Every decision that day becomes harder.  Ever decision requires more and more discipline and self-control to keep her quiet, to not do as she suggests. 

And then I realize....I could have just said "my second cup will be black, thanks!" and stopped this whole spiraling process before it even began.  Because I would have reinforced with my behavior that my goals MEAN something.  I would have indicated to myself that NOTHING is too small to not be considered.  That EVERYTHING that enters my mouth needs to have a REASON to do so, and that REASON must agree with my primary goal of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight.

And so, my second cup is ALWAYS black.

Rinse and Repeat!