Hey that person’s fat too . . . and so is that one!
I’m not nearly THAT big!
I’ve got a ways to go . . .
Screw salad. “I’ll have a cheese burger and fries, please. After the nachos come out, of course.”
That’s kinda how it goes in my mind when I am out at a restaurant and the mental tug of war between my gluttonous self and my know better self have at it. And it gets NASTY. When two out of every three people in the place are overweight, some super fat, gluttony wins out when I am not careful. The rationalizing that happens when I crack open the menu quickly turns to guilt and hand wringing once the last drip of sauce is wiped from the corners of my mouth.
It’s so easy.
No wonder Americans have problems losing weight. Just look around any store, eating establishment or gas station and reasons that we “aren’t that bad” are in your face. It’s like watching the television show COPS. You just feel better about your life because you aren’t trying to run from the police in handcuffs.
Rationalization happens in other ways. In many other ways.
- Ah well, I already had one slice of pizza. Another isn’t going to hurt. That much.
- My nephew’s third birthday party is Saturday, I’ll loosen up my diet for the weekend and restart Monday.
- That pumpkin spice latte only comes around once a year, I have to take advantage.
- I had such a stressful day at work, I deserve to gorge as much as I want.
- This cake is about to get stale. There are starving kids in China. It’d be inhumane to let it go to waste.
- I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch, so depositing my daily allotment of calories into my pie hole at dinner is okay.
But for me, it’s usually the COPS technique.
However you like your rationalization, it’s usually just one of the stops in a vicious cycle. Once you’ve made the conscious decision to eat badly, to not work out, or to just not be good to your own body, shame, guilt and even anger can overwhelm your emotions. How do people stuck on fat cope? They eat. And so it goes on.
But it’s okay. At least I’m not as fat as her.
By Mystery Meat, a contributing blogger for JenningsWire.
