Overdosing on Donuts and Ice Cream

Once, when I was little, I watched something on tv that talked about this diet where you eat whatever you want. You actually go to the store and buy everything that sounds good--anything--and then you take it all home and pig out. You gain some weight at first, but after a week or two your body gets so sick of all the junk you're putting into it that you stop eating the junk and start eating healthy foods. And of course, the tv program had testimonials and before & after pictures to prove it was all true. I was amazed.

I actually believe in this diet.

Have you ever noticed how you can sometimes "overdose" on a certain food, and then you never want to eat that food again? I know someone who did that with cantaloupe. I've done that with various food items too, though at the moment I can't think of a single one. I'll update this post if I do.

I have, however, noticed a few exceptions to the rule:

1. I have never overdosed on donuts. I tried to in high school. I decided during my senior year that if I wanted a donut, I was going to eat a donut. Our seminary teacher brought donuts to class every Friday (it was a bribe--we were a rowdy class), and I always ate one, sometimes two. There were frequently donuts available for my consumption in the middle of the week too, from one source or another. I took a donut every time.

I kept wondering when I was going to get sick of them. Maybe I just didn't eat enough all at once? I remember one day in college when I ate six Krispy Kremes. Six in one day. That's disgusting. I didn't eat them all at the same time, but by the end of the day I was feeling a little grossed out. Maybe I should have kept going on them to really OD for good.

Suffice it to say, I have not yet been able to acheive a disgust for donuts.

2. I have never overdosed on ice cream either. Perhaps because ice cream is Mormon alcohol (you heard it here first), and people don't get sick of alcohol just by drinking it, I have been unable to stop craving ice cream. It doesn't help that there are so many different flavors of ice cream--every day you can eat a different kind.

In college I worked at BYU's Creamery on Ninth, scooping ice cream. I decided I would let myself eat ice cream if I wanted to, and I figured I'd soon get so sick of it that I'd never want it again. Wrong. Ice cream was a regular part of my diet in college. In fact, for quite a while during my senior year I was eating several hot fudge sundaes a week. And I never got sick of it.

Perhaps, then, the "overdose" method of dieting only works to a certain extent.

Or maybe I just need to eat donuts and ice cream exclusively to find out if I really would get sick of them.