Unhealthy Habits Out the Window

Maple glazed bacon apple. Lemon pistachio. Chocolate rosemary almond. Cornmeal blueberry. These are some of the donut flavors available at Dynamo Donuts, the premiere donut shop in San Francisco—and the donut shop that I happen to pass daily on my way to work.

For obvious reasons, Dynamo donuts are my weakness. The very thought of one makes me feel like a drug addict who needs a fix. But obviously when one is trying to lose weight before one's wedding, one must steer clear of such evil temptations.

The problem is that Dynamo Donuts also sells Four Barrel coffee. And that's my favorite coffee, and, as I mentioned, it's right on my way to work. So I sometimes find myself stopping at Dynamo in the mornings just to get a cup of delicious french pressed coffee. The intoxicating smells of donuts are always hard to resist, but I do a pretty good job.

Yesterday, I stopped at Dynamo for a cup of coffee on my way to work, and while I was there, I decided to buy a pound of coffee beans. What I didn't realize is that when you buy a pound of coffee beans, you get a free donut. Uh-oh. "Fine," I thought. "I can just give the donut to someone at work." I got my coffee and donut, got into my car, and proceeded to get on the freeway and head to work. As the donut sat on my passenger seat, it seemed to beckon to me. And in my head, I started to negotiate with myself:

"Okay, I'll just eat the donut, but then I'll skip lunch."
"No, then you'll feel like crap about yourself. Just be strong."
"But it's not even that many points. You can fit it in."
"It's not about the points, it's about being healthy and getting rid of bad habits."

This went on for about 10 minutes before I suddenly rolled down my window, grabbed the donut, and chucked it. Dramatic? Maybe. Litterbug? Definitely. But I did what I had to do.

Moral of the story? In dieting and nutrition, you can only be successful if you throw your unhealthy habits out the window. And sometimes that might mean literally.