I’m off work this week, and while I decided not to do any traveling this time around (I took a trip to Virginia a month ago), I still wanted to enjoy my time off. So, I took a quick day trip to Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, PA, yesterday. It was my second visit (my first being in 2013). It’s about an hour away from my house, and there’s zero obligation to buy anything while there, making it the perfect inexpensive trip.
I’m currently in the last third of a 13-week maintenance period which makes my diet a lot more flexible than it usually is (which is saying something because my diet is pretty flexible even when actively trying to lose weight). After years of disordered eating habits, I still struggle with things.
One of those things is going to restaurants or food items that aren’t in my tracker or don’t have nutritional information. Sure, I can guesstimate and find close substitutions, but every once and a while, I get stumped. For dessert, I got a liege waffle topped with chocolate pastry cream, dulce de leche, saltine brittle, and a scoop of ice cream with more saltine brittle and toffee mixed in. There was no nutritional information for this shop. I couldn’t find all of the individual ingredients to piece together an estimate. I also couldn’t find a list of generic “liege waffle with ice cream and toppings” in my tracker.
Now, I did find one entry on MyFitnessPal. I would have preferred to pick from a small list of options, but something is better than nothing. Besides, whether I tracked it accurately or not, I ate the food. Nothing is going to change that.
Then, even though I already had a dessert, I decided to order a “potion” from this (unaffiliated)Harry Potter-themed store. Their cold potions are different Italian sodas: flavored syrups in seltzer with optional mix-ins like “unicorn cream” (half and half), “griffin” whipped cream, “fairy dust” (edible glitter), and even “energy drink potion.” They also have a selection of “hot potions” (flavored hot chocolates). The menu lists some of the more popular menu items, but you’re free to create your own potion using the endless combinations of flavors available.
It was too warm outside to consider a hot potion, so I decided on an iced drink. Now, the Wizard’s Beer (which contains butterscotch, English toffee, and vanilla syrups with unicorn cream and griffin whipped cream) tempted me simply because I knew it was their version of “Butterbeer.” However, the idea of those flavors in a carbonated drink felt odd. (I plan on returning and getting a hot one, though, because that sounds delicious). I decided I wanted something more “fruity,” Based on the recommendation of one of the staff members, I ordered the “Liquid Gold,” which contains pumps of passionfruit, pineapple, and peach syrup with fairy dust.
Initially, I wasn’t going to order anything at all. I stopped drinking soda back in September of 2008, and, save for two exceptions, I’ve been pretty consistent. And while this wasn’t a can of orange Fanta or Mountain Dew Code Red (my old favorites), it was sugar-sweetened syrup in carbonated water.
It wasn’t that I decided against ordering it because it was soda, and soda is “bad.” I didn’t consider it to be an option until I decided to order it.
There was no guilt. No anxiety. Despite this being something out of my comfort zone- something I had previously labeled as “off-limits,” I didn’t feel any negative emotions ordering or drinking it. It didn’t send me into a spiral of wanting to drink all the soda after years of restricting, but I’m also not labeling it as a one-time exception to the rules. Water will still be my primary drink of choice, but soda isn’t exactly “bad.” I’m willing to eat candy: Sour Patch Kids and Marshmallow Peeps.
Is soda really that different?
Sure, there’s something about drinking your calories being less “satisfying” than eating them, so even as a dessert, I’m not going to have soda often. But when you consider that nutritionally, an 8 oz serving of sugar-sweetened soda is nearly identical to a serving of Sour Patch kids, what’s stopping me from having a bottle of Boylan’s Black Cherry soda or taking more trips to Peddler’s Village to try other potions?
Of course, between the treats that I couldn’t accurately track, I was pretty sure I was out of calories before dinnertime. “I might as well just eat whatever for dinner and start over in the morning, or maybe I’ll wait until Monday.”
Nope. When I got home, I went for a quick evening walk and prepared dinner: some salmon and half a bag of Trader Joe’s Lemony Basil Arugula salad.
No guilt. No, “I’ll start over tomorrow/next week/after this event.” I enjoyed a few out-of-the-ordinary treats, tracked them to the best of my ability, and moved on immediately. I’m not doing extra workouts today or cutting my calories back by a couple hundred to “make up for the damage.” Today is just a typical day of eating. I’m even having a cupcake I picked up from a bakery in Peddler’s Village (peach raspberry) for dessert tonight.
I’m not sure what led to this shift in mindset around food, but it’s incredibly freeing to be able to enjoy the occasional day where I go over my calories or have an unexpected treat without feeling guilty or going off the rails. A single meal in the middle of the day or a few days in the middle of the week, and then back on track without waiting for the “perfect” day to restart.
If only I knew how to do this thirteen years ago when I joined WW.
Because, for me, this is “food freedom,” and it tastes delicious!