The Power of the Potato

Tonight, a good friend returned to Newfoundland and let's face it, who wants to come back home with nobody to greet them at the airport.  I knew it was my duty.  That led to an impromptu dinner out and as suspected, most of the downtown restaurants were bursting at the seams.  It only took a little hike down Water St. to find a restaurant with a table in the window so in we went.  One thing I really love is interesting conversation so the entire evening was spent on a broad range of topics, one of which was the food on our plate.  The soup to start was well made but could have used a few degrees more to make it piping hot.  The sandwich that followed came with a choice of side and then came the moment when you stop to consider that half a plate of french fries would likely be in order.  I really don't remember the last time I ate a french fry, but tonight, I was having them.  A conversation soon followed on whether that was the best choice, so I was up front in stating that it clearly wasn't.  But in that moment, I really wanted french fries as my side.  Here's what I believe.  If I was to resist those fries as if they were the worst things in the world, no matter how much I may have wanted them, the fries win.  As long as you tell yourself that you can no longer have that desirable something that may find its way to your plate, that something wins.  What I now tell myself is that I can have whatever I want and I only eat it when I'm hungry (real hunger, that is, not the kind of hunger you believe is there late at night when something's on your mind).  I really do say that to myself.  In the matter of that, the food no longer has the hold that it once did.  What I've discovered is that the freedom to have whatever I want offers just that--freedom.  Now I am in control, not the food.  What I've also discovered is that the frequence of my consuming those kinds of foods has diminished considerably.  Just as I've said, I don't remember the last time I ate a french fry.  I'm pretty sure they won't be on my plate tomorrow nor anytime soon.  My desire for those kinds of food has changed so much.  Even with Chinese food.  For so long, that was the enemy, now I tell myself I can have it whenever I want and even as often as I want (again, as long as I'm eating to satisfy real hunger).  Again, I would have to think to the last time I had that.  For the most part, my choices are good ones but I won't make the french fry bad or wrong because it was on my plate tonight.  They were actually quite good.  I shared them, by the way, so only half the guilt was actually consumed.