Pizza Protocol

During my heart problems a few years ago, I was ordered on a permanent low fat diet. After the subtle shrug that firmly shuts down (if I catch it early) my mind's eager inclination to make things A Whole Drama, I set myself to thinking about how I'd handle my pizza situation.

I resorted to a tactic I like to call "reality". It's the alternative to self-indulgently spinning up ditzy drama (e.g. pouting about how life as I know it will never be the same whenever something changes). And I cooked up the following ground rules:

• I'd eliminate all bad pizza.
• I'd eliminate all so-so pizza.
• Really good pizza is permissable, but only one slice.
• If really necessary, I could occasionally enjoy two slices.
• Since I already cooked healthy at home, I'd cook at home a bit more to offset the errant slices.

This policy eliminates 90% of my normal fat-ingestion-via-pizza, while removing only 10% of my enjoyment:

• I never liked the bad or so-so pizza anyway (and I'd simply work harder when hungry with nothing else easily within range).
• The first slice is the best slice, anyway. And the third slice is pleasureless gluttony.
• There's not a single hard denial here of anything really meaningful to me.

Along similar lines, see "The Best, Easiest, and Most Sustainable Diet Tip"