Joanne and the Teaspoon of Ice Cream by Joan Kent, PhD
In 9th grade, Joanne was everything I wanted to be: tall, thin, beautiful. She had long, thin, beautiful legs and arms. Long, thin, beautiful hands and fingers. An appetite that matched.
One weekend we double-dated. She invited me to eat dinner at her house, get ready for the date there, and stay overnight. Great idea!
We ate dinner around 5:30, then got ready. When the boys picked us up, we went to a basketball game, then to a school dance. We got back to her home at midnight and hadn’t eaten anything since dinner.
Joanne asked if I wanted some ice cream. Well, in those days I always wanted ice cream, so I said “Yes.”
She took a half-gallon of ice cream from the freezer. Chocolate. With a teaspoon, she scraped a curly-cue of ice cream into a small dish. A moment later, she scraped a second curly-cue of ice cream into the dish and asked, “Is that enough?” Embarrassment made me answer, “Yes.”
Joanne then served herself 2 curly-cues in the other bowl.
Okay, Fact 1. If you had pushed the 2 curly-cues of ice cream together, it would have made a rounded teaspoon. Seriously.
Fact 2. I could have devoured a pint just serving the ice cream into a bowl – a large, full bowl. I marveled at Joanne.
Her eating process was another marvel. I tried to eat as slowly as she did, and the teensy bits of ice cream melted the instant they touched the spoon. It wasn’t like eating ice cream at all.
But get this. After we finished, I felt as if I hadn’t had any ice cream. Joanne kept groaning over and over, “Oh, I ate too much. I ate too much.” She actually meant it.
A revelation rang in my head: ‘I do not eat like a naturally thin person!!’ I couldn’t imagine ever finding the control to do that, and I envied Joanne for that, as well.
Your Control Tip: Eliminate addictive foods and discover control.
Addictive foods affect our brain chemistry in a way that makes us want to eat more and makes us want to eat junky foods. But it’s not our fault! It’s brain chem.
So the rest of this story spans quite a few years and centers on my food struggles. If you’ve read my books or my posts, you know I’m the World’s Foremost Recovered Sugar Addict.
What I did was quit sugar. What I got instead was control.
Sure, I sometimes think, as Bob Seger once said …
“Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.”
… because not knowing would give me a great excuse to binge on ice cream the way I used to in 9th grade.
But mostly, I’ve gained control.
Not Joanne’s way, the naturally thin person’s way, but mine. I have strength that came from overcoming what I once thought I couldn’t do – and the main benefit of that strength is both control and freedom.
You can have that, too. And it’s not difficult. Just visit www.LastResortNutrition.com and grab your free copy of “3 Mistakes People Make When Trying to Quit Sugar.” Discover how easy it is to gain control and freedom around food. You got this!
Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar: 7 Simple Steps to Defeat Sugar Addiction, Lift Your Mood, and Transform Your Health.
