I've had a great eating day today. Nice veggie omelet at my favorite diner. Yum.  Love breakfast out. Love not having to cook. Love to people watch and read the paper while I have my yummy breakfast. Love an unhurried breakfast in a casual place. Lunch was apple slices and wheat thins.  And dinner was chicken and veggies. Great day.
But here is what I want right now. Ice cream. Probably chocolate. But maybe vanilla with hot fudge. Maybe chocolate with reeses peanut butter cups in it. Maybe a trip to the grocery store to stand over the freezer with all the Ben and Jerry's - stand there and consider each flavor. Read the list of ingredients. Not the calories label - but the list of what is in the ice cream. Which candy, which nut, which syrup. Get my favorite spoon. Sit in my favorite chair. And start scooping. Right into my mouth. Something about cold icecream with hot fudge on it. Your mouth doesn't know which thing to like first. There's the mmmmmmm and then the other mmmmmmm.
That's what I want to do. Really want to do.
But here is what I am going to do. Go out to my kitchen and look through the cupboards and decide whether or not to have a bowl of raspberries - their own nice little mouth explosion-surprise - or have some Coco Pops. They are these large frisbee looking things that are only 16 calories a piece. They sort of taste like paper - (they're made out of wheat flour, rice flour and corn flour and sea salt.) but it feels good to hold a big thing in your hand and know you can eat the whole thing.  Based on today's calories I could actually have both.
Do raspberries and cocopops have the same fantasy dream like aura for me? No. But they also won't immediately become part of the cottage cheese on my butt or my thighs. They won't artificially elevate my blood sugar level. They won't make me feel guilty and sad.
I can spend the night with berries and cocopops and still respect myself in the morning.