The Jujube Experiment

Have you ever had Costco jujubes? You know the ones – the ones in the big blue bag. Well, let me tell you a story about them.

Several years ago, we bought the Costco bag of jujubes. It seemed like a good idea at the time; we could grab a couple jujubes here and there – treat ourselves a little in the midst of our busy days. But the thing is…when we brought that bag into our house, I devoured the jujubes like it was my job to eat every last one of them as fast as I could.

It started out innocently enough…I would grab a handful of jujubes when I went into the pantry. Then I started to grab a couple of handfuls and put jujubes in my pockets. I would carry them around with me in my pockets or in little baggies in my purse. I would pick through the bag for every colour except the red ones (don’t they have that bad dye in them anyways?)   And then of course when I got to the bottom of the bag, there were only red ones left. So I would eat the red ones and think to myself: “well…if I eat them quickly, then there won’t be any more in the house, and that will be much better for my health.” (Aren’t we, as humans, amazing at rationalizing things?)

They say sugar is addictive. Well, it sure is. By the time I had demolished that bag of jujubes, I felt terrible: I had low energy; my hands and feet were numb; and my gums were bleeding from the high amount of sugar.

So after this happened once, I asked my husband, Robby, NOT to buy those jujubes EVER AGAIN. Then about six months passed and I thought about the jujubes a lot.  So I developed a new strategy.  I thought: “I think we could have that bag of jujubes in the house if I just establish a rule for myself…like five jujubes max per day.”

So I asked Robby to get me the Costco sized bag of jujubes again. His eyes went wide, likely remembering how obsessed I was about the jujubes the last time.  He reluctantly responded: “I thought you asked me never to buy them again.” But I insisted that I had a new, foolproof plan. So he bought it on his next trip to Costco.

You can probably guess what happened next: I ate the whole bag (and my gums bled again).

SO… I inadvertently completed a jujube experiment. I even tested out a hypothesis – that I could actually only eat five jujubes per day. In the end, the experiment failed miserably.

Like any experiment I learned some important lessons:

• I learned that I can’t have jujubes in the house at all;
• I learned that the best intentions and a plan to be disciplined is sometimes not enough; and
• I was reminded of something I already knew: the best way to avoid eating unhealthy snacks or candy is to not buy it in the first place or have it in the house at all.

Importantly, it also reminded me that we need to be very deliberate in creating conditions for our success. And just as importantly, that we need to be disciplined in avoiding things that take us off track.

And here’s the good news for you: you don’t have to complete a jujube experiment of your own because I did it already!  You’re welcome.

Having completed the jujube experiment, here’s my conclusion: there’s never a reason to buy the Costco sized bag of jujubes. (Now a Costco sized bag of toilet paper is a different story…if you can find one!)

Is there any food that you crave and have trouble resisting? What is your best strategy for staying disciplines about what you eat? We would love to hear about it in the comments below.

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