Gettin' Squirrely

I noticed today I was getting really squirrely lately. No, I'm not losing mental stability (you have to have some in order to lose it), but I am beginning to hide stores of supplies in odd little places like a squirrel stashing acorns.

In my purse, I have several packets of splenda and some sugar free gum. In my desk drawer at work I have more splenda, a dropper of liquid stevia, a packet of almonds, some unsweetened cocoa and a small jar of coconut butter. In the mini-fridge, I have a batch of almond bark, some leftover grilled chicken, a container of greek yogurt, a small assortment of condiment packets and a container of cream. I also have in the cabinet by the coffee maker, a jar of coconut milk, a large container of Da VInci Sugar-Free carmel syrup, an assortment of artificial sweetener packets and a can of tuna.

In my black catch-all bag, I also keep a small zip-lock full of splenda packets, a pack of Walnuts, and some pumpkin seeds. Like a squirrel, I like to be prepared for an eventual shortage. Instead of preparing for winter, I am just preparing for those occasions when low carb eats are not readily available. The world remains, for the most part, low carb hostile, and not being ready can lead to serious temptation.

The other day, I was supposed to be in the office for an hour while my husband went on a sales call. His meeting ended up running long, and other clients called and he had to go visit them at their offices. As can happen, my 1 hour turned in to more like 6, and rather than starve or sneak accross the street to 7/11 and fall face first in to a bag of Doritos, I was able to ride out the day enjoying some fabulous low carb treats.

First, I mixed the unsweetened cocoa in to the Greek Yogurt, added a few Splenda packets and had some rich, creamy chocolatety goodness. A few almonds on top were just an added bonus. A hour or so later, I made myself some coffee and added the heavy cream and the sugar-free carmel syrup. How can you not love low carb when the coffee with cream is so filling it can almost count as a meal? Seriously! As it came time to lock up, I had a few more things to finish before I could head out the door, and I also knew that waiting till I got home to eat would be a mistake. If I got too hungry when I got to the kitchen, it would be way too easy to go over board and stuff my face. So I heated up a bit of the chicken I had in the fridge and munched on that while wrapping up my projects.

I didn't cheat, I didn't binge, and I didn't feel deprived for a single second-all because I was following the example of some rather fuzzy and clever little rodents. Sure, I still hate squirrels. After all, these are the creatures that cause hundreds of dollars worth of damage to my garden each year by destroying bedding plants, eating my veggies and tearing up my lawn furniture cusions. Despite their destructive nature, they did teach me to be prepared...which is why I now keep a loaded pellet gun near the patio door. I'm just paying back the squirrels by teaching THEM something this time.