When I was in college, I developed what I called the "Squirrel vs. Golden Retriever" theory. I'd heard Goldens will eat everything you put in front of them, so you have to monitor their food more carefully than you would with, say, a cat. Meanwhile, I had a roommate who I was convinced was part squirrel. She didn't eat junk food very often, but she hid it all over the apartment. Just knowing that it was there in case she had an emergency Kit Kat need was enough for her. When she left for the weekend, I (a Golden Retriever if there ever was one) would sniff out all of her treats and devour them. I'm not a total jerk--I'd replace all of them before she got back. And then I'd do it all again the next weekend.
Years and years later I came across Gretchen Rubin's description of Abstainers vs. Moderators, which is a lot more eloquent than my squirrels and dogs labels. If you've ever been successfully avoiding less healthy foods only to be told by a skinny friend that it is not healthy to deprive yourself--and then your treats turn into "it's Wednesday night, so I must need a treat because I went to work and came home, right?"--you might be an abstainer. And you might want to read the article I linked to above because it's super helpful in understanding how you operate vs. your friend who's never struggled with weight.
And if you're an abstainer who has figured out how to "offroad" successfully CALL ME. That's probably my biggest challenge at this point.
