Goofus and Gallant - Approaching Food

Many years ago I got braces to correct the gap between my front teeth.  It wasn't a large gap, but it was decided that there shouldn't be a gap and it was necessary to fix it.  I had the full set of braces including "head gear" that I had to sleep in every night for two years.  MANY children were running around with a wire wrapped around their face connected to a neck brace during my pre-teen years. (Photo is NOT me, only an example.  I took NO photos with braces)

It was at the dentist that I first began reading about "Goofus and Gallant" in the Highlights magazines.



Goofus was always negative, rude, pushy, and selfish.  Gallant was perfect.. always.

So this morning I started thinking about my food choices over the weekend.  I had several challenges:  a road trip to Dallas, an outing at the movies, and dinner with family.  Except for the very salty beef jerky at the movies, I did pretty good.  In spite of my best efforts, my hands were VERY puffy this morning.

WHICH led me to thinking about choices when eating.  I see a buffet table.  What do I see first?  Do I see what I CANNOT have instead of looking at what I CAN have?  Do I see the negative foods first, or do I see the positive choices?  Think about that.



HOW DO YOU APPROACH AN EVENT THAT INVOLVES FOOD CHOICES?
As a Goofus? or as Gallant?



Here are your choices:

GOOFUS	GALLANT
Look at all that food I cannot have! This is going to be too hard!	There is so much food, it will be easy to find what I can have!
Because I have been so good, one bite won’t hurt me this time.	Because I have been so good, I’m not taking one bite of anything that will derail me.
They insisted that I eat it so I had to.	I politely declined and quickly changed the subject.
Oh well, I just had to eat what was available.	I knew there might be a problem, so I planned in advance and had some snacks with me.
I’m on vacation so I’ll start back when I get home.	I’m on vacation and want to enjoy every minute not feeling bloated and sick, so I’ll make good choices.
Tomorrow	Today
I think about food all the time.	I have strategies in case my mind tries to obsess about food, like going for a walk.
I don’t know what was in it, but I didn’t want to appear rude and ask.	I politely asked what was in it, explaining that I have some food intolerances.