Sunday, February 10, 2008

Vending machines of doom

In the past few weeks, I've developed a rather bad Pop-Tart habit. It all began one night when I had to miss dinner to stay in the lab and gave in to the temptation posed by the vending machine I passed as I left. I hadn't eaten a Pop-Tart in around a decade, but I was in the mood for something sweet. Since then, they've called to me, and I've been indulging more often than is good for my pocketbook and my waistline.

The last time I was at the grocery store, I priced the cardboard-like pastries and confirmed that I could buy them for far less than the eighty-five cents I've been paying for each package of two, but I didn't buy any. The stupid things are not particularly tasty or healthful so I should give them up entirely. The problem is, I haven't and keep buying them a couple of times a week despite all of my promises to myself that I won't. Should I break down and buy a box, throw some in my backpack, and hope that by the time I've eaten them all I'll be sick of the taste, or do I need to do a better job of convincing myself that vending machines are off limits?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's the thing: You know you're going to be hungry. You know you're going to be near the vending machines. You know the only thing appealing at that hour after that much hard thinking is going to be Pop Tarts, no matter if you have a totally nutritious and cheap snacky in your bag.

Buy the box of Pop Tarts. Stick them in your bag. Eat them in front of the vending machine as a taunt to the Capitalisim Gods.

Becca said...

Break down, buy a box, and then slowly wean yourself back off of them. Rebag them to only eat one when you're at class or to eat half of one--whatever you think will let you get the craving over with without tempting you to buy more at the vending machine because it wasn't enough.

Anonymous said...

I agree: buy them. I know their siren song.

More important: Buy the ones with frosting. I have, in an attempt to be healthier, bought the ones without frosting. And after eating the unfrosted ones, bought more from the vend because the unforsted ones just weren't... pop-tarty-enough.

Store brand is fine, as long as it is frosted.

Also: Only carry one foil-wrapped package in your backpack at a time. Again from personal experience: I will eat more if more are readily available. Though you sound like you have more self control than me, I'm not one to push it. Especially when there are lasers involved.

E.C. said...

Thanks for giving me permission to be semi-bad.