Heading off afternoon ice cream cravings

I have a really active fantasy life when it comes to food. Once I get it in my head that I want something to eat, I just can't stop thinking about it. Usually after about noon, I can't stop thinking about ice cream. Sometimes I can't even make it for thirty seconds without imagining the cool, creamy taste of chocolate truffle ice cream with marshmallow swirls and fudge-covered coconut-walnut-brownie pieces.

So, in light of my earlier post, what with those scary pictures and compelling reasons and everything, I decided to forego the ice cream today. Whew. Good decision.

Which leaves me pacing around the house thinking about ice cream. See, once you get a bad idea in your head, and you know it's a bad idea, then it really seems to stick around. First I tried telling myself I wasn't hungry because I ate lunch, like, an hour ago. I even had cool, creamy cottage cheese, hoping to head off my afternoon cool-and-creamy cravings. Then I ate a few dried apricots, just for a little something sweet. Then a slug of milk. But still the little voice was saying "there are quarters in the bucket! It's almost happy hour at Sonic! If you pay in quarters, Tyson will never know you ate ice cream! You'd better go now, before he gets off work!"

But I said to those little voices, "NO!"

And I made myself a protein-banana-coffee shake instead that tasted a whole lot like ice cream but had however much fat is in 2% milk, plus 20 grams of protein and only just a little bit of sugar. And a banana. Don't forget that, because that's fruit and it has to be good for you because it's fruit. Plus there's all that potassium and vitamin G or whatever.

So maybe, despite my best efforts, my rationalizing still got away from me. At least I'm not hungry for ice cream any more.