Do you know what TOD stands for?

TREAT OF THE DAY.

One of my best friends coined this term. It's sort of like CrossFit's WOD (workout of the day), but with more sugar and less sweating. 

Although it could relate to any treat, it usually refers to something specific: a glorious peanut, coconut, chocolate cookie type thing that's to die for. It's gluten-free to boot, if that's your thing.

Oh man. They're one of my favourites! I go bananas for them. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Like the song.

Once in a while when my friend would make a batch, she'd always save a few for me. It would be a special treat.

But something happened recently. Something that could have radical and far reaching TOD implications going forward.

My girlfriend learned the recipe and made a batch. They were good. Great actually. They were great. 

As they say, once you pop you can’t stop. I had at least 5 TODs within 3 minutes of them being out of the oven.

Then it happened. The earth shattering TOD revelation. She said "if you like them so much, I'll make them anytime you want."

Whoa. TOD’s anytime? Are you even serious right now?!

First I was excited. Isn't this what I'd dreamed of? A fresh-to-order TOD service that didn't cost money or require any effort? Then I thought, hold up. This could be a little dangerous. A few things occurred to me:

1.      I wouldn’t have had any TOD's that night if they weren’t there. I wouldn’t have missed them either. I would have just eaten my regular, healthy dinner.

2.      In my mind, I view a TOD as a special treat that doesn’t come around often (one that's also tied to friendship and warm, comforting feelings), so when a batch does appear, I don’t wait around for someone else to eat them all - if you know what I mean.

3.      But now that my girlfriend will make them anytime, I’ve got to keep myself in check. Obviously I have no self-control when it comes to TODs, so that will mean asking her not to make them often. Most desserts and treats don’t temp me much, but these ones really really do.

What does it all mean?

First off, everyone, even people who are normally very healthy are only human. Sometimes I hear someone say "oh, well it's easy for so and so not to eat chips. They're a health robot."

Not true. We all have our own triggers and I wanted to call myself out for this one. After that first batch of TOD’s, which I ate without blinking an eye, I hauled myself back in and realized that getting into a habit of eating cookies every day doesn’t align with the life I want.

What’s important to me? Feeling energetic, pursuing fitness, being able to do cool, physical stuff like learning surf or hiking in mountains at the drop of a hat, being the best coach I can be, and trying to be a role model for clients. Going down a rabbit hole of TODs every day won’t help me with that.

And will power alone isn't going to help me.

One of the major success principles that I coach people on is how to insulate themselves from temptations. There’s no sense having to rely on will power if you can avoid it. You can only draw water from that well so many times before the bucket comes up empty and you end up with a face so full of cookies that you can barely breath.

For me, that means no TODs sitting my kitchen on a daily basis. That will only set me up for failure. What does it mean for you?

But, at the same time, when I do decide to enjoy a treat, I won’t feel guilt, shame or any other negative feelings. I’ll own it, do it on purpose, and enjoy the hell out of it. I just make sure I don’t do it too much where it would start negatively impacting the things that are important to me.

With the holiday season coming up, pick your spots, don't "accidentally" eat like shit (i.e. without thinking and truly enjoying them), but definitely do enjoy a few treats just for the fun of it, and don't feel bad about it either.