When I was a little girl I used to come down from the country and stay with my grandparents in Melbourne every school holidays. The highlight of this stay would be a trip to the the local shopping mall to see a movie and the chance to spend our birthday money in Toys R Us. Every visit to the mall would culminate with a much sought after treat at Donut King. I always got the pink girl shaped donut and I would savour every bite. I remember these visits very fondly, it wasn't just the donut, it was the excitement of being in the big city and the happy times spent with my grandparents. Over the years, all these happy memories have been wrapped up and encased in that pink girl donut.
Years later, when I moved to Melbourne, on my occasional visits to the shopping mall I would still finish my shopping trip off with a visit to Donut King. Even as an adult I would still go and buy my pink girl donut and always remember my time with my gran and pop and it still made me happy.
Since I moved out to the 'burbs, my local supermarket is positioned so that it is literally impossible to get through the door without walking past Donut King. Instinctively, every time I go to the supermarket I now buy a pink girl donut. Every time. I have taken fond memories and turned them into a bad habit. I realised the other day that I don't even like these donuts that much. This has to stop.
oh babe! they totally look better than they taste hey??
ReplyDeleteevery time you go to the shop - save the buck fiddy the donut costs and when it adds up to enough- buy something like a glossy mag or something small and non foodie as a treat instead.
xxx
Everytime I see pink donuts it reminds me of those squashed up ones you can buy in packs of 6 from the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteGlad we finally caught up yesterday. We'll have to do it again soon.
I've never been fond of donuts but know how easily a childhood treat can turn into a bad habit - and if you do it every day, it's no longer a treat or a pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI reckon the easiest way to break a bad habit is to change your routine - is there another supermarket nearby? Or tell yourself you'll get one on the way out then make sure you're carrying your bags not wheeling a trolley so it's just not worth the effort :D
WEll they are pretty... but I don't like donuts so I'M SAFE! Good luck resisting them mate.
ReplyDeleteI just came homr from my inlaws and they never have food in the house.. like hardly any food anyway..
ReplyDeleteand when I lived up there, i would always make sure I was well stocked up on crap to get me through... Last week I found myself still doing the same thing.. don't need the food!!
I'm with Kitty - put the money that you ordinarily would spend towards something more indulgent and grown up (I say that it can be a food item, people may disagree with me.) And like Kathryn said, when you have things often, they don't become a treat anymore and don't taste anywhere near as good.
ReplyDelete(Why on earth am I commenting? Everyone else has already given all the good advice!)
My memories of visiting my grand parents in the big smoke are mainly of TV! Cartoons in particular. Where I grew up we had the ABC & 1 commercial station (BTV 6). My sister & I would spend hours watching cartoons that we never got to see on the farm!
ReplyDeleteKitty is smart. Get the Mag!
We used to go my grandparents for the occasional Sunday lunch. Looking back the food was awful, but my sis and I loved it because we could have as much as we wanted, including seconds (we never had seconds in my house) plus dessert. And homemade ginger beer.
ReplyDeleteI don't like donuts luckily ;-)
Great post. Specifically the way you were able to recognize the reasoning behind it. Now you have fodder to talk yourself out of it if needs be, and like others have suggested, put the money into another kind of reward.
ReplyDeleteOh tully, I hear you.
ReplyDeleteMine was a four pack of lindt balls everytime I popped in to Safeway. And if i popped in twice that day? I don't need to tell you what happened next!!!
Now when Im at the supermarket I find myself instinctively walking down the chocolate aisle towards the lindt, without even thinking about it!
Now i pop all the money i used to spend on lindt into a money box, to save for a major MAC cosmetics haul.
Ohh the lindt balls....the memories!! Seriously, buying a glossy mag sounds like a good back up plan but if you want something sweet, get a milky way instead. Girl donut is 1500 kj with 14.7grams of fat but the milky way is a third of that in both kilojoules and fat. Just a thought
ReplyDeleteWhen I take my little boys to Donut King I am always careful to order a "pink person" doughnut, not a "pink girl" doughtnut. It is my little boy Flynnies favorite treat. But he has a tantrum if you refer to his "pink person" in any feminine way!
ReplyDeletePS. I think I left a silly drunk comment recently. I cannot even remember when I posted it, being too drunk at the time. I do vaguely recall however refering to you as "my sista" etc etc.
You know I once wrote a whole post about an invention I had come up with; a computer with a breathaliser attached which would prevent you from using the internet when intoxicated. I think there is some money in that idea!.
Im entirely like that with Mrs. Fields cookies and the mall.
ReplyDeleteand still shed a tear or 3 when I walk by without shouting GIMMIE A DOZEN!!
I know you're trying to avoid the doughnuts, but that story is so so cute it kind of makes me want to say "Awww, don't break that tradition!"
ReplyDeleteIf it's the visit to doughnut king that is the habit, and not so much the taste of the donut, maybe just buy one cinamon donut hole - it can be the donut equivalent of a nicotine patch! Rather than going cold turkey.
If you want to stop completely, empty all the cash out of your wallet before you go to those shops. Donut King don't take Eftpos :)
I know those habits only too well - it's strange how you feel like you're missing out even to think of not calling in when at the shops.
ReplyDeleteBut you have more power than those donuts and it's time to take it back!