Delaying Gratification

An amazing phenomenon happened today.  Something that has never happened before and is unlikely to happen again.  I went to the DQ with a friend today.  In and of itself, that is no big feat.  However, I DID NOT GET ANYTHING.  I sat and watched her eat a mediocre looking hot fudge sundae.  It was hard, yes, but I assessed the situation, weighed my pros and cons, and decided to forgo what would have been my second DQ of the week. 

It would be so much easier to resist such things if the gratification for RESISTING was immediate.  Like if I stepped on a scale and saw that I had lost a pound or something.  Instead, you get that immediate gratification for indulging. 

But here is how shit went down today:
Friend called and invited me on a hike.
Friend suggested we go to the DQ afterwards.
My thought process kicked in as such:
A).  I just had a DQ
B).  Is it REALLY worth the 700 plus calories (yes, my DQ treat was 724 calories or some ungodly number)?
C).  I began searching for a "smarter" option and found that a small chocolate dipped cone was doable with around 180 calories.  So, I had that in the back of my head to order; only when the time came, I weighed the pros and cons of getting that cone then and there.  I really wanted ice cream I had in my freezer which was around the same calorie content but much more pleasing for my taste buds.  I don't particularly care for chocolate dip cones.  If I couldn't get what I wanted, I wasn't going to get anything at all.  So I didn't.

So I declined and waited to be "gratified" after my dinner with my own ice cream.  Glad I did.  Whew, this is hard work!