The croissant that frustrated me
Everyday, at about 3PM, I go get my dose of caffeine to the hipster coffee shop next to my office. Well, technically speaking, I should not call that a coffee shop since their main business is about selling all kinds of fancy teas. But hey, they make the best cup of joe around too so…
Not only do they sell tea and coffee, but they also have the nicest selection of viennoiserie. There are all sorts of yummy danish pastries, chocolate croissants and, my favorites, 100% butter croissants.I say “favorites”, but I should say “favorites to my eyes”. Cause here is the thing: I pay attention to my weight so I do not want to ruin my diet by having one of those beauties.
So I go there everyday and I crave for the magnificient croissant, dreaming of a perfect combination of crunchiness on the outside, softness in the inside, and the butter softly teasing my taste buds. Instead, I get my coffee and I leave the place with a constant frustration; at least, it used to be that way.
Cause I had built in so much frustration with that croissant that I eventually decided, 2 weeks ago, that I would eat it. The anticipation of the pleasure feeling was real; as the guy gave me my pastry, I was already picturing myself having a mouth orgasm. I guess I was drooling.So I grab a bite, put it in my mouth, almost crying and… and… not much. That was just a croissant; the same kind of croissant I used to eat in France. Nothing special; actually even disappointingly too “empty” inside. All my dreams, gone. “All this frustration for such a disappointing piece of dough? What was I thinking?” I said to myself.
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.”. Now I understand what Wilde was explaining. I think, too often, especially on a diet, we tend to restrict ourselves so much, that we end up building up a huge frustration. And eventually this becomes so unbearable that we just drop the diet entirely.
So what shall we do to avoid this kind of bad feeling? On my end, I now usually restrict myself on eating a specific thing (say, onion rings for instance), until I get to the point where it is starting to frustrate me too much. At which point I will indulge.
But instead of just indulging and leaving it this way, I’ll take a note on my iPhone. Especially if the experience is disappointing. Cause I also think that too often, our “food” memory tends to magnify the real taste of high-sugar high-fat food.
That is why I now have the “croissant from the coffee shop” added to my list of things that “look good but are not worth the eat”. So that next time I’m looking at it, I have a reminder that it is not so good. And I am not frustrated anymore.
That pizza from the Napolitan restaurant next to my place though… it looks really good… maybe I should have a slice tonight right?
Originally published on my blog:
http://1upmylife.blogspot.ca/2016/08/the-croissant-that-frustrated-me.html
