One of my favorite things about Fresh Market is their selection of specialty chocolate bars. I don't shop there often, so when I do, I usually pick up a goodie for each family member. Yesterday I had 5 assorted chocolate bars in my cart, and I headed for the checkout. I thought about how much I love my husband and three children and I enjoy being nice by bringing them a treat.
Then something occurred to me. I flipped my husband's bar over. It's 2.5 servings in a bar at 190 calories per serving. Now, these are rather large bars and he probably would eat it in 2-3 servings. However, he recently got back from a 2-week backpacking trip where he lost a good inch on his waist, and he has mentioned that he would like to keep it that way.
I realized that maybe it wasn't so "nice" of me to bring him this candy bar with an extra 475 junk calories that he didn't need in his weekly diet.
So I said to myself, "I probably shouldn't be quite so 'nice' to my husband." I put our two candy bars back, and instead bought a little single-wrapped peppermint patty for him and a dark chocolate salted caramel for myself. The calorie count for that serving was much lower than the chocolate bar. Plus, once it's gone, it's gone. No leftovers to tempt us.
I know I could have bought nothing for all of us, but as I said, I don't shop at Fresh Market often, and neither my husband nor I believe in total denial.
In many cultures, providing lots of yummy food for consumption is a sign of love. However, there are plenty of other ways to love and support our family and friends - including simply providing a little less food! I'm glad I was able to step back and realize that what I initially thought of as being a "nice thing" to do would really only sabotage my husband's goal. Hopefully he'll keep his belt on its new notch and I will continue to think twice when choosing treats to bring home.
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