Rewards

Wednesday evening was host to the highly anticipated S303 educational law final exam. I had dreaded the final and found the class insipid and the professor completely obnoxious. Despite the butterflies in my stomach and my desire to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction of the exam room, I took the test, wrote enough to make my hand ache, and turned it in. I happily left the school of education after conferring with some friends about the collective sense of relief at having finished the class. I turned my music up and thought about how I would celebrate the fact that I'd never have to listen to another dull lecture about legal issues in the classroom. Driving home, I remembered Hillary mentioning she'd eaten dinner at Roots, with Shana, for the past couple nights. I recalled her telling me about the vegan chocolate cake she'd eaten there and though to myself, that would be a great reward for finishing that awful class. I was stopped at 10th and the Bypass and about to change my direction from home to Roots when I realized I was rewarding myself with food. Upon reaching this realization I immediately turned my turn-signal off and continued towards my apartment. I had a humble and unextravagant dinner of a PBJ tortilla and applesauce, and thought of other ways to reward myself. I ended up watching a couple episodes of The L Word while curled up on the couch with a comfy blanket. After the show I quickly did my homework and curled up into bed to get some much-needed rest.

Oftentimes we resort to rewarding ourselves with food and sugary desserts without consciously realizing the damanging effects of our actions. Rewards are great and I truly believe we should treat ourselves, but the question is, to what extent? Will we risk consuming too many calories or too much refined sugar for one evening? And how do we determine what caliber of event warrants food-based rewards? Eventually, we end up treating ourselves when we accomplish menial tasks or overcome minor obstacles. This can lead to increased consumption of unwanted and unneeded foods.

The best way to overcome the conditioned belief that food is the best reward is to come up with a list of enjoyable activities not related to food. When you accomplish something you're proud of or something you think deserves to be rewarded, pull out the list and pick a reward. I like watching shows or movies, or giving myself extra reading time to work on a novel instead of class-related readings.

This may not seem like a huge revelation but it certainly helps to put these thoughts into words. I have struggled with rewarding myself with food too often but I plan to concentrate my future efforts on avoiding falling back into that destructive pattern. I'm sure I can do it if I really try; anyone can do it if they try hard enough. It's also important to remember that we can reward ourselves with food once in a while, but the harm comes in doing this repeatedly and frequently. It's wonderful to have supportive friends who can help!

We're having a delicious vegan/raw dinner tonight at Hillary and Shana's place. I'm excited to find a recipe and even more excited to try the foods we come up with! If I remember to bring my camera I'll make some food porn and show you guys what we ended up having. Until then!