M&M's, The Philosopher's Stone?

Philosopher's stone (Latin: lapis philosophorum; Greek: chrysopoeia) is a legendary substance, supposedly capable of turning inexpensive metals into gold; it was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For a long time it was the most sought after goal in Western alchemy. (source: Wikipedia)


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Bad news travel fast: everyone in cyberworld seems to know that Barbie ate a whole bag of M&M's yesterday. What they don't know is that I actually ate 2 halves of two bags, which, yea, equaled a whole bag.

When the vending machine at the library mistakenly dispensed two bags of peanut M&M's, I took half from the first bag, threw the rest away, and slipped the second bag into my purse, um, for a rainy (cheat) day. That, boys and girls, was my downfall. The temptation was too strong-- the second bag suffered the same fate as the first. And so it was that I ate 2 halves of 2 bags of M&M's.

So, what everyone wants to know (or maybe not) is: why'd I do it and was the infraction worth it?

The surface answer to the first question is: I did it because I had a craving. The real reason, upon further reflection, I realized is that I had been leaving the house unprepared for the past few days. Had I left my house in the morning armed with sufficient snacks, I would not have succumbed so easily to temptation. The truth is I didn't want to pack my belongings and leave the library to go buy a delicious pot of cottage cheese. I was being plain lazy.

So: was it worth it?

Absolutely, but not because my M&M's were so mmm-mmm good.

Eating 560 calories worth of sugar (over 70 grams of carbohydrates) in less than 30 minutes(yes!) made me re-examine my goals, my poor planning, and consequently, helped me recommit to eating clean.

Let's face it, if eating a bag of M&M's is my only infraction in a period of 38 days, then I really have nothing to worry about. But, I am already quite the cheater on my cheat day. I need to eat clean 6 days a week and not go buck-wild on my cheat day if I expect to achieve the results I am after. Also, I realized that by leaving my house unprepared I was leaving myself open to making more poor choices.

That is not the road that I would like to take.

Today, day 39, I recommit to Bringing it in the kitchen.

Who knew that a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts could set me back on the right path.

Day 39 down. 51 more to go.

BRING IT!

Barbie, PhD