I’ve been having a lot of problems with free food recently. It’s been easier this week because the fountain o’ candy has run dry, but it’s a tough thing in general. It’s really tough for my husband, too, who contends with a newsroom full of candy bombs.
I realized that the biggest difference between free candy and candy at the store is that free candy, is, well, free. I don’t have to actually make a choice and pay for it. Even when the amount transacted is trivial, it’s that transaction that makes it easier for me to resist.
So, this week, I set up a deal with my husband: all that free candy isn’t free. If either of us eats a candy bar, it’s ok, but we owe the other a dollar. Whatever the “street value” of the food, that’s what we owe.
A wonderful thing happened: we were both able to resist the free food now, since not only was it not free but you had to ‘fess up about it, too.
And my husband lost 4.2 lbs this week! That’s huge at any time, but especially so when you’ve been doing this for a while. He’s down almost 80 lbs altogether.
My weigh-in is tomorrow. I doubt I’ll match his success, but I feel I’ve been successful just by putting this one to rest in my own mind.
How about you? How do you fight free food?
