From Dates to Desserts: Applying the Lemon Law

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sogE5SP834s

Years ago, my husband and I watched a series called How I Met Your Mother. There was a character who was a notorious dater. He was always pulling these tricks (or plays from his playbook) to get women to go out with him. Anyway, since he dated so much, he hated to waste his time on dates that weren’t going to go anywhere—either he wasn’t interested or for some other reason.

He called this the Lemon Law. Like the car lemon law—if you get the car and it’s terrible or not what you needed/expected, then you return it without any hassle. (I don’t know if that law actually exists anywhere anymore, but it’s a good idea.) He applied this to dates—if by 10 minutes in the date wasn’t worth it, then he’d just say “lemon lawed” and bail.

So yeah, he wasn’t the nicest, but hear me out.

I apply this principle to food—specifically the sweets, treats, and salty things we put a lot of value and calories into.

Picture yourself at a party: desserts, chips and dips, all kinds of your favorite foods surrounding you. You get a plate of things and start to bite into your favorite item. Only, it’s not quite right. Something isn’t made the same, it isn’t as good as you imagined it, and it’s not even as good as you want it to be.

Lemon law it. Put it down. Yes, that might mean wasting the food.

Think about your two options: waste the food, or eat the food and deal with the aftermath—you now have extra calories you didn’t need and didn’t enjoy, you can’t enjoy what you really would enjoy without going over your calories, and you may feel negative emotions about yourself afterward.

There are a lot of different names and approaches similar to this. I’ve called it the “not worth it” rule—if it’s a cookie from the store, it’s not worth it. But if it’s a super special dessert made with love by a friend and it tastes amazing—absolutely worth it.

There should be no regret, no issues, no negative feelings.

If you find yourself struggling with this in any way, or know someone who does, check out my free webinar. Take the first step in building confidence in your nutrition, establishing your own “lemon law,” and working toward your goals.