Defensive Eating

Defensive eating is something that most of us do, but few ever realize that we are doing it.
I love to eat. Even though I am in the DR, where the food choices are often limited, I make sure that I always have stuff to eat that I really like in the house or with me. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. It could be as simple as Fitness Corn Flakes or a chocolate bar, but be assured, there is always something that I really like in the kitchen or in my possession. When I first started dating Massiel she had the best body of any woman I had ever been with, and maybe ever seen. After we were dating for about 6 months I realized, and mentioned to her, that she had started to "put on a few". Turns out that she enjoys eating more than I do. Unfortunately for me, she enjoys everything that I like. It took a while until I realized that stuff that I was hoarding, to eat at the appropriate time, was missing. It didn't take too long to figure out where it was going. The cats, not having opposable thumbs, can't open the closets or the refrigerator. It couldn't be them. That eliminated all possible suspects with the exception of Massiel. After a while I realized that if there was something that I really wanted to eat, I had two choices. I could hide it or I could eat it. Hiding food seems like kind of shitty thing to do. I have always told our cleaning lady, or any guest sleeping over that anything that was in the house was their's to eat if they wanted to. This eventually led to never inviting one friend to never stay over because she took this too literally. But how could I hide food that I wanted from my wife? The answer is that I can't so I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to eat something, I had to do it right away. To leave it was to make it fair game, and the disappointment of it not being there when I wanted it wasn't worth it. So I started to finish food that I might not normally finish, so that I could be sure that I would be the one eating it. That is defensive eating. I told my daughter about the concept of Defensive Eating (eating something to insure that you are the one who gets to eat it) a couple of months ago and she thought it was kind of a silly idea. I spoke with her last night and mentioned that once again I had done it. I told her that the night before I had opened a Mas Y Mas chocolate bar. This is a chocolate bar that has raisins and peanuts. I am a chocoholic and have identified this as the best chocolate bar made here in the DR. It breaks into five pieces. I was at the computer reading something and I put two pieces in my mouth. Massiel saw me eating this and asked me for a piece, which I of course gave to her. As I did this, of course, I quickly come to the realization that she was going to want more, but hey, I wanted it. So, to avoid a problem, I quickly slipped the two remaining pieces in my mouth, even though I hadn't finished the first two. Sure enough, a minute later Massiel asks for another piece, and I had to say, "I'm sorry, but there is no more". YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Defensive eating strikes again. After I told my daughter this story she confessed to me that now that she was aware that it existed, what had seemed like a really silly concept, was actually something that she often found herself doing, she had just never given it a name.