Just one cookie...

     "If I go buy cookies at Safeway, will anyone eat them?" our friend Ryan asked Josh and I as we were leaving Joe's Fresh Farm Grill and heading over to his house for a game night.  
      I sneak a peek over at Josh.  I haven't had cookies, like this, for about 15 weeks now.  Since I joined Weight Watchers, I haven't been really putting myself in situations where I might be tempted to overindulge.   In those past 15 weeks, I have dropped just about 20 pounds.  Just one cookie can't hurt right?

       As we sit down in front of "Settlers of Catan" at Ryan and Jenna's house, the box of M&M cookies sits to the right of me.  I ask my sister, Jamie, if she wants to split one with me.  She agrees to take a little piece.  I bite into the soft, melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness.   Oh man, cookies are good.  I take another bite, and find myself unable to stop. I finish one cookie and take another one.  Suddenly, I start to feel a little ill.  My cookie euphoria has unexpectedly descended into sugar coma.  My head is spinning, the room feels hot and my stomach feels a touch queasy.  C'mon, I only had two cookies! (OK, rather large cookies, I admit it).
      When I was in high school, I was obsessed with losing weight.  I still am.  I find the changes that people can make in their overall appearance, just by dropping pounds, both fascinating and inspiring.  In high school. I remember one magazine profile piece of an overweight teen who lost 30 pounds through diet and exercise.  She recalls a moment in week 12 of her weight loss, where temptation overwhelms her and she visits Jack In the box for a double cheeseburger, large fries and a Coke.  After devouring the meal, she felt really sick.  So sick, that the meal came back up 30 minutes later.  The trainer working with her on her weight loss explained that her body became used to healthful eating and when it was asked to digest a large quantity of fat laden food, it rebelled.
       I liken this to my cookie experience, and I'm overjoyed.  I've made so many positive changes in my eating habits over the past 15 weeks, that when I re-introduced a food that I had so often inhaled, my body rebelled.  I was planning on running Race for the Cure on Sunday morning, but on account of my wicked stomachache, could not. 
       Lesson learned, Safeway cookies are not as appetizing as I previously believed.