Day 15 : "Trick or TREAT?"

In case you've never noticed:  I love Hallowe'en.  But this year, at the very beginning of week 3 of my challenge, it was almost my downfall.  I've come closer to falling off my diet in the last 24 hours than at any point in the previous 14 days.

So, first of all:  yesterday evening, after another pleasing weigh-in, I decided to have a bit of a treat, whilst still keeping it healthy.  Last Sunday I'd had a big plate of hot mixed veg and a cup-a-soup, instead of a fish salad.

But last night, my wife cooked toad in the hole, roast potatoes and veg for dinner.  So I decided to forgo the sausage and batter, but again have a big plate of veg and two roast potatoes, which had been roasted in Olive Oil.  It was delicious.  But when I took my empty plate out into the kitchen, I spied five roast potatoes sat in the pan.  Everyone else was in the dining room, talking.  They couldn't see me.  The potatoes looked lonely.  So - only to spare their misery, you understand - I ate all five in about 60 seconds flat.

Anyway, I didn't feel too bad about that - after all, it was only bit of carb and unsaturated fat after a fortnight of mostly abstinence.  And I had avoided eating the spare sausage that was also sat there (although I did feel really bad, as Mr. Sausage looked extremely lonely after I'd scoffed his poor little potato friends).

Then, today started off as most other days in the last couple of weeks.  I ate an apple in the car on the way to work.  I did spy a half-empty packet of soft mints in the pocket between the front seats, which my wife had left there over the weekend.  But, having eaten my apple, I didn't even think about eating them (well, not for more than a few seconds anyway).

I had two tins of mackerel and a banana for lunch.  By the time I saw the soft mints again when driving home, the temptation was too much.  I ate three.  After a fortnight of abstinence from any kind of sugary treat, they tasted like the most glorious mints in the world.  Minty nectar.  I think my taste buds had an orgasm.  So I threw them in the back seat before I could eat any more.

When I got home, my wife and I took my two youngest sons 'trick or treating' around our close.  I have to admit to wishing I was a child again, so I could fill up a big bucket with sweets and chocolate, then go home and stuff my face.

When we got back in, I decided to hang around for a few minutes before going to the gym, so that I could see some of the kids coming to our house for treats, and then put our kids to bed.

Big mistake.

By the door, was a big pot of assorted sweets for the trick or treaters.  I thought that one wouldn't hurt, as I'd had three soft mints anyway, and after my weight loss one more tiny jelly sweet wouldn't hurt...

... swiftly, one became about eight.

Have you ever seen that episode of The Simpsons, where Barney - the fat drunk who sits in Moe's Bar slurring and burping - becomes an astronaut?  He gives up drinking, loses loads of weight, gets really fit, and becomes super intelligent.  Then one day he has one sip of alcohol, and instantly puts all the weight back on, burps, and reverts straight back to his old self.

I had a vision of me as Barney.  I saw myself sat on the sofa later on this evening, not having made it to the gym; surrounded by an empty pot, loads of sweet wrappers, and crumbs from a couple of pies I'd managed to find in the freezer; burping and holding my belly, having somehow instantly put 24lb back on.

Yes, a scarier vision than any Hallowe'en zombie.

So - just as I was about to reach into the pot for another sweet - I instead forced myself to run upstairs.  I put on my gym gear as quickly as humanly possible, quickly kissed the kids goodnight and legged it out of the door to the gym - where I did my Monday night chest workout, stomach workout and 30 minutes on the cross trainer.

When I got home, feeling much healthier again, I sneered at the pot of sweets by the front door, and walked on.

Phew.  It could have gone so wrong tonight.

So, my diet today consisted of:

- Breakfast:  An apple;
- Lunch:  Two tins of mackerel and a banana;
- Hallowe'en Treat:  3 soft mints and 8 jelly sweets;
- Dinner: about to have a salmon salad.

Re-focused.

Happy Hallowe'en!!