Like other weeks so far, this week was also not difficult, but I have noticed something which reminded me of something I talk to my patients about often and that is that potentially difficult situations can, and do, arise. Perhaps because Life Happens, as I always say. We could potentially experience difficult situations all of the time, but we can do something about it to make them not as challenging and/or not a problem. I always work with patients on anticipating difficult situations and problem solving how to plan for those situations. If you don’t anticipate a difficult situation and don’t plan how you will conquer it then it can be quite overwhelming. I am sure you have had a difficult situation that you did not plan for and you stood there feeling kind of lost. I could use several examples for this, but I will give you a simple one that I assisted a patient in coming up with a plan for. She was a pre-op patient and she had to be on a liquid protein diet, but she had plans to go to an all day concert outside with friends where you are not allowed to bring outside food in. Now if we didn’t discuss this and come up with a plan, she may have brought her shakes and then found out they were not allowed in, or even worse, she would have not thought about it, gone to the concert and had either a choice to not eat all day or to eat the food they have (typically not healthy). Luckily we came up with a good plan and it worked.
Now back to my PB Diaries, so in addition to loving PB I also love fro Yo (frozen yogurt) and there are these great new places that keep popping up where you serve your own fro yo and toppings. One of my favorites is 16 Handles. Prior to this week and starting my PB Challenge I have not been to a fro yo place- partly just because, and partly because I knew that every time I go I have a tradition. The thing is that I actually do not like PB flavored fro yo, so I knew that would not be tempting, but I have this tradition (partly thanks to my mom) for putting melted PB on my fro yo. Since I typically eat very healthy, when I eat fro yo I allow myself to splurge with the toppings and of course I top it off with the melted PB. This week I went to 16 Handles and I went knowing I would have this potential “difficult situation” ahead of me, but I went remembering my goals. So, I got my fro yo, I got my toppings, and there I was standing in the line waiting to pay with the syrups (including PB sauce) right in front of me. I briefly noticed I glanced in their direction (not picking them up and looking at them, but just glanced). I then glanced away, paid and that was that. I thought I was not going to enjoy it as much without the melted PB, but I did. I tasted the flavors more. Did I miss the PB? Maybe a little, but did I NEED the PB? Absolutely NOT! So that is that….The PB challenge continues to be a success.
Stay tuned for more, including how I plan to have PB for the first time since this challenge started, in just a few weeks!
Do you have a potentially challenging situation you would like to discuss and get advice on? Do you have a similar situation where you anticipated the situation, planned for it, and was successful, or how you could do it differently next time? Share your story!