My cereal does not taste like dog food

About a week ago, I decided to try Kashi's Heart to Heart Toasted Oat cereal. It's very low in fat and calories and one serving is three-fourths cup. I don't like milk, so I figured the cereal would be a nice sweet and crunchy snack in the afternoons. I did notice that the round and heart-shaped pellets looked a bit like dry dog food, but I liked the taste. Today, a colleague walked by my desk and felt the need to point out that the cereal looks like dog food. Then he tasted a couple of morsels and said it even tastes like dog food. Haha.

Unrelated to the dog food comment, I came pretty close to cracking today. For some reason, I've been starving all day. I really don't know why because I think I've eaten plenty -- WW frozen breakfast sandwich, Kashi frozen lunch entree with pasta and chicken, a sample of homemade sloppy joes, Kashi cereal without milk and a Kashi protein/fiber bar. That's all before dinner.

After work, I had a few errands to run and I was feeling tempted to stop for a fast-food dinner. Zaxby's, which I haven't eaten in more than six months, sounded so good. Instead, I headed straight for the grocery store salad bar. Although it was looking sad, I put some lettuce, grape tomatoes and boiled egg white pieces in my plastic container. Then I walked through the entire store looking at all the other things I wanted to eat. I picked up the hot dogs, but put them back. I scanned the prepared foods counter, but the mac and cheese and fried chicken looked like it'd been there all day. I looked in every freezer in the frozen food aisle, spending extra time looking at the pizza and ice cream.

The whole time, I was carrying my poor little salad. Luckily, I resisted everything, paid $2 for my wilted lettuce and headed home. My mood was low, so I put on my pajamas and crawled into bed. But all I could do was think about eating and my stomach was starting to growl.

I finally had to get up and eat my sad salad. I'm also having a baked potato with a spicy beef topping for dinner. There's no chance I'll still be hungry after eating it all. So I'm proud I overcame all of the temptations, especially the ones I built up in my head. But I'm also wondering if it will ever get easier.