The boss went to Sam's Club last night and bought tons of soda for the fridge and candy for the various candy bowls in the office.

One of the girls brought in butter rum cake.

Soda....candy.....butter rum cake.
Three things I know I can do without. None of them appeal to me, I was going to be fine.

But now... now there are brownies. Delicious-looking homemade brownies. The mother of one of the guys here sent them to her son for valentine's day and he brought them in to work. Brownies are definitely tempting.

And of course I'm hungry, and have an hour and a half til I usually take lunch. If I eat the brownie, I won't have room in my plan for wine and my special v-day dessert with DH (it's not that special... angel food cake, strawberries, and whipped cream.... but SO good). If I don't eat the brownie, I have to sit here thinking about the brownie. Brownie brownie brownie.

I can hear it calling my name. But I really don't want it that badly. It's just there. And I'm hungry.

Perhaps I'll eat my orange. My orange-that's-not-a-brownie. We'll see if that works. sigh...

mmm brownie. That's really a tough one.

btw, your vday dessert sounds really good too - and a nice treat for a special occasion. How about getting a screen saver of a slice of angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream so that can be your goal, your reward at the end of the day. there's gotta be a picture of one on epicurious or foodtv.
and stay away from the brownie
step away from the brownie.

the brownie is not special. your momma/grandma didn't make it, some anonymous office mom did. eat the special v-day dessert with your hubby.

Do NOT eat that brownie!

You have worked too hard to give it up for a moment with a brownie. Your desert tonight sounds yummy, enjoy that and forget about the brownie

Hmm, I wonder if having a photo of another sweet treat is gonna help me avoid the ones calling me in the kitchen? Actually, it might, because angel food cake w/strawberries and whipped cream is SO much more aesthetically pleasing than a brown lump of brownie. So perhaps I'll try that....

8mickey... anonymous office mom. True. I hadn't thought of it that way. Her feelings won't be hurt if I don't eat one.

I ate my orange, so the hunger problem is temporarily solved, now it's just a matter of willpower........ I think I like it better when people aren't thoughtful and don't bring stuff like this in to work.

Though I have to wonder, is anyone else even thinking about the food in the kitchen? I'm the only overweight person in my office. I may very well be the only one with food issues. I'm certainly the only one who secretly ate 6 or 7 white chocolate macadamia nut cookies when someone brought THOSE in like a month ago (resulting in a gain for that week, go figure). Why is the presence of brownies pretty much controlling my thoughts? What's wrong with me? Argh! Must...hold....out!

Think of it this way... you can have the brownie OR the angel food cake. You don't get the cake if you eat the brownie. So tell the brownie to kiss your butt if it keeps calling your name.

It's probably from a box anyway (Maybe not, but you can tell yourself that, right?)

Some wisdom from Judith Beck's cognitive behavioral therapy on cravings:

The brownie: imagine yourself eating it. How long will it take? Maybe 30 seconds, if you really stretch it out. 30 seconds of pleasure. Then, imagine how it will feel in your stomach, and what you'll be thinking. What will you tell yourself AFTER you eat it? How will you feel? Imagine the hours after the brownie, having dinner with DH and then making yourself tell him that you can't share VD dessert because you ate a random brownie. How exciting is that 30 seconds now? And how fantastic will it feel NOT to eat it? To know that you're firmly in control and you did it and you can go on about your bad self?

If it's not on your plan, you can simply choose to tell yourself that there is no choice. You have no choice - you're not going to eat it. The instant you know that for sure, the discomfort will pass and you'll feel a lot better. You'll have a much better shot at distracting yourself so you stop thinking about it. (This really works - I was at Golden Corral two nights ago and never even looked at the desserts. I got upset later, but nothing actually made it into my mouth.)

Hope that helps!!!

(there's no jaw-dropping smilie, that's the best I can do)

That's like, mind-blowingly awesome. Does she have a book? It makes perfect sense... I guess I need to make sure I don't try to rationalize having BOTH (which I admit, I did for a minute -- oh, I'll just not eat dinner and go straight to dessert AND have this brownie. Wait... what?).

One or the other, and obvious benefits to waiting for dessert with DH.

You guys are fantastic. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna come out on top in this battle

kuhljeanie~ Great quote! Can you tell us where to find more?

suitejudyblueeyes~ Great job winning the fight!

so glad you're in a brownie battle. I'm battling everything right now! Just gave in to the peanut butter pretzels and some weird chip things that I bought because I assumed they were healthier than they turned out to be...and now there's really no room for lunch in my day!

It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one...and SuiteJudy, you've got this...no brownie for you, no (fill in any and every food here) for me!!

S

Hang on hang on hang on! Think of your wonderful Valentine evening, with the dinner and dessert to share. It is so much better than a random brownie eaten quickly at your desk, or alone in the kitchen.

(Hope this helps.)

Hey Judy and Beth,

Not quite a quote but more an applied paraphrasing of one of her techniques to fight cravings. she's got a bunch! and yes, she's got a book - The Beck Diet Solution. It's not so much a diet as cognitive behavioral therapy to make whatever diet you choose easier to stay on. Tagline is "Train yourself to think like a thin person." I've got the book on CD - I listen to it in the car on my way to work. It's AMAZING. Seems so simple and dumb but her mojo is way powerful stuff! There's a bunch of us - http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=133223
It's a great group!

I totally support eating the occasional brownie, particularly if you stay within your calories or points or whatever. But I agree that the V day dessert with DH is way, way more worth it.

Have a cup of tea, maybe. It keeps your mouth and your hands and your brain occupies a little -- always helps me.

I like to tell myself (no offense to anyone) that brownies are just TOO COMMON to waste WW points on! Lol! You can get them ANYWHERE at any time...

But, kuhljeanie, that is the best thing I have read in a long time! How fantastic... I am going to print that off and read it the next time I think I want something that I don't need or have the WW points for...