Self Control - You either have or you don't? But does it have to be one or the other?

So after my Oreo cookie debacle Friday I started to question my self-control and the concept of self-control in general. I have ALWAYS had very poor self-control, especially with food. When it's a food that really, really like pizza or Ruffles (mmm Ruffles) or Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream (only the best freakin' ice cream on earth) then I totally cannot hold back. That's why crash diets like the HCG diet, that are really strict on portion sizes and counting calories are not my cup of tea. This is why I am so shocked that I've been able to do the vegan thing, like extremely shocked. I am definitely the kind of person that cannot handle diets where you give up certain types of foods for good because I guarantee it two days later I will be compensating for those two days without, carbs for example by eating WAY TOO MUCH. At this point you're probably thinking so the girl that can't handle restrictive diets decides to stop eating all meat, dairy and fish... hmm... sounds like that would be counter intuitive. Well, for me, having a moral reason behind my now more restrictive food choices has been the real kicker. Like any lifestyle, veganism still allows for binge eating and junk food, hence the self-control question. I have found that my self-control has gotten much stronger throughout this process. I currently have many binge worthy foods in my house that I haven't dug into like a bag of chocolate chips, Pop chips, tortilla chips, a bar of dark chocolate with almonds, tortillas, english muffins and pasta noodles (do ya notice that I love carbs?) plus the Oreos I bought on Friday that I haven't touched since Saturday morning. I think that part of this change is that my sugar and carb intake has decreased dramatically since going vegan and therefore so have my cravings for sugar and carbs. So, when those cravings do kick in what do you do? Which begs the question about self-control...

Self control, do you either have it or not or does it have to be one or the other? On Friday when I was in my post-Oreo gobbling state I definitely felt like it was one or the other because that's always how it's been for me! As soon as I slipped a little bit I fell down the rest of the way and stayed down for a while. I definitely had adopted that attitude for most of my life but only when it came to eating or working out. I would never behave this way with work or school. One bad grade didn't mean I should blow the whole semester, so why should one bad meal blow everything I've accomplished? Of course self-control isn't one or the other! Some nights you're going to blow off writing a paper or studying for a test to hang out with your girls (or watch crappy tv) and your grade isn't quite as good as it might have been. Just like some days you are going to miss workouts or eat one too many Oreos and maybe you gain a pound or only lose less then you would have otherwise. That doesn't mean that you should never write another paper for class or eat pizza every night of the week, you just pick up where you left off! 

I've really found that applying the attitude I have towards my academics to fitness and health has finally allowed me to find a way to be successful (or at least try to be) in both areas! To answer my own question - no, I don't think that self-control is all or nothing. I do think that at some times we exhibit more self-control than others, but that's just human nature! So here's to Oreos or Chocolate Chips (or any kind of chip) in moderation! :)  

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