Day 24: Temptation comes with icing

This was the sight that greeted me today at work. Actually, to be honest, I knew they were there long before I saw them. It was kind of like one of those cartoon, ribbony swirls of odor had drifted around the corner from the break room into the hallway, demanding I go check it out.

I'll end the suspense quick: I didn't eat one. But it was tempting. And a bit coincidental.

Like I said a few days ago, I'm working my way through Protein Power and had just made it yesterday to the section on temptation. Page 213:

You walk into the office break room to get your low-carb snack from the refrigerator and are overwhelmed by the fresh-baked aroma of still-warm doughnuts. There they are -- at least a dozen fluffy, moist glazed ones in an open box with an attached note that says help yourself!

In my case, the box was closed (I peeked) and there was no note. But it's expected you will take one because my company does this occasionally, placing some treats like this in the break room. Pastries, loaf cakes, muffins or, my own carb noire, doughnuts. So, in other words, carbs, carbs, carbs or carbs. It was brought up recently on Twitter, why do we ever stop low-carbing if we know the advantages it brings? I think we stop because of moments like this. Because we're weak? No, not all. Continuing in PP:

Assuming you love doughnuts, what happens to you? You smell and see the doughnuts, which starts your physiology working. Your GI tract starts preparing for the incoming doughnuts, your pancreas actually releases a little squirt of insulin in preparation, and your whole being prepares for the consumption of the doughnuts -- and all of these changes are beyond your direct control.

To think: we see the doughnut, our body secretes insulin which makes us hungry so we feel a void that demands us eat and, woah, there's this doughnut here. Seems almost unfair. Taubes writing in Good Calories, Bad Calories (on page 442)-- wait, this can't really be the first time I've mentioned my favorite book on the subject, can it? -- said that "insulin may play the critical role in our determination of palatability". Not only do our bodies sense the adsorption of naturally-occurring sugars like fructose and glucose and know these eventually turn into energy, so too do our bodies prefer complex carbohydrates because they induce an exaggerated version of this same wave of adsorption. And it doesn't even have to be a taste; insulin is "pre-adaptive". Just the thought of sugary-sweet hitting your lips stimulates your brain to tell your pancreas, get ready. The pancreas then dutifully pumps out insulin just in case. Again, seems almost unfair. You are simply wired to want to eat that doughnut, regardless of whether or not it might cause diabetes.

A part of me still wants that doughnut hours later. So I make a cup of tea, eat a handful of almonds. Yeah, it's not the same. I can't change my sweet tooth (or can I?) but I can choose how to react. I chose to pass up the doughnut today. 341 days to go.