Ironically, I began this anti-inflammatory diet on American New Year's. Then, I broke several cardinal rules on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year...
As you can see from the picture, there were so many delicious things to eat! Egg rolls, rice noodles, stir fry, roast duck and pork, soup, and a fluffy white heavenly-looking coconut cake.
UGH.
So I cheated and ate a couple deep-fried shrimp balls and roast duck, all washed down with a glass of white wine. It all tasted great and made me miss my old diet. I tried to rationalize my choices: the shrimp balls were not battered and fried in canola oil; the roast duck was oily but still 'roasted'; and the white wine was not red but at least gluten-free. At first, this was fine and then I felt crummy/paranoid. Less than a month into this and I was already falling off the wagon. Was I nuts? Was I playing with fire? What if these tasty things spurred another inflammation attack? I had planned on eating one bite of the beautiful coconut cake...but felt worried about my previous eating choices. So, I ended up washing dishes in the kitchen while everyone else ate cake. At the end of dessert, I began clearing the table and picked up the cardboard round the cake sat on. There were little bits of frosting and yellow cake still stuck to it. Right before dumping it into the trash, I found myself---like a complete crazy woman--eyeing these yummy bits. I took a deep sniff of it: it smelled great and I realized that I miss sugar a lot. Then I threw it away.
So what did I learn tonight? I learned that eating with other people who are not on a diet is very painful. I also learned that I really miss some foods. Lastly, I learned that a little cheating is probably going to happen...and I'm trying to tell myself that I'm making lots of other good changes at the same time. For example, I'm still going strong on no french fries and no coffee.
On New Year's day, you're not supposed to do anything that you don't want to do for the rest of the year. Tomorrow, I will go back to my regular anti-inflammatory meals--because that's what I want to do for the rest of the year.
I know I kind of already said this, but I think you handled New Year's Eve beautifully. You allowed yourself a treat without completely abandoning your plan, and you'll likely have to do that more and more as this goes on, right? (I never knew there were so many 'special' occasions until I started trying to watch my diet.) Good luck, and happy new year!
ReplyDeleteI read this great article in a yoga magazine (no judgment) about not letting cheating or slip-ups throw you. It's inevitable anytime you make these big changes that you'll fall off the wagon. You just think, "Start again." If your mind wanders during meditation, you just start again. If you eat deep-fried shrimp balls, you start on the diet again. The more I try to remember that the less I beat myself up. And hey, if I was in your situation, I'd be eating cake out of the trash, so I say, good job and happy new year!
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