Sacrificial rites

I'm in no way talking about ancient rituals that require a virgin to be sacrificed to yield good corn. I'm more concentrated on the acts of sacrificing. We give certain things up because we have a particular goal in mind. In order to achieve this goal, certain things must be let go of so that we might obtain this goal as quickly/efficiently/good as possible.

Right?

Let's take losing weight as an example. I have been on this quest for as long as I can remember.
I have a goal, Z, and that is to look good in my skimpy little bikini.
The rule, X, is to lose weight. The action, Y, is to exercise and diet.

In terms of cognitive science, I am trying to obtain Goal[Z] by the application of the Action[Y] to the Rule[X]:
[Z] = [Y]X
Look good in a bikini = diet and exercise (lose weight)

To obtain my goal, however, there are certain sacrifices I must make. I have to lower my caloric intake by some ungodly proportion. I have to do more cardio (I increased my cardio to one hour five days a week). My meal frequencies also have to decrease.

Today, after I finished an hour on the cross ramp, I told myself I could go get something to eat. I allowed myself a banana, low-fat yogurt, and Tropicana's 50% less sugar pulp-free orange juice. Needless to say, I had room for some flavor.

I was walking by the convenience store, when, to my chagrin, there was a stand that had free hot cocoa and bagels... with cream cheese. Did I say free? And cream cheese? I wanted to die. But, to my surprise, my willpower was much stronger and I evaded the temptation.

I walked onward towards BSB and I remembered that UH had fantastic muffins in their cafe. I started to head in that direction. In my head I ran through all the different muffin flavors they offered. I thought, "Hmm... cranberry orange sounds good. And healthy. So does a banana walnut."

But... they were still carbs. And they were not allowed. Not yet, at least (I limited my carb intake to one serving a day... yeah, I'm desperate).

I changed directions and looked like an idiot. I decided to go to my office with OJ and yogurt in hand. I started to think: Do we all go through phases like that when we want to sacrifice something to get something better in the end? Do we all have bouts of self-doubt and flailing willpower when faced with temptation, temptation that will surely divert our attention from our ultimate goal?

With relationships, I ultimately want some big love. I was sick of Mr. Right Now and Mr. Right Here (and even worse, Mr. Right Here Will Do Then You Can Leave Thanks). And yes, they were all Mr. to me because their names were so insignificant--they might as well have been the same person in different circumstances.

If my ultimate Goal[Z] was to have a long-term relationship, then my Rule[X] would be to find a good boyfriend. My Action[Y] would entail sacrifices, among the other activities associated with dating. There are a series of Actions[Y sub-1, if you will, all the way to Y sub-n] for this Goal.

I sacrifice a nice guy who I like a little bit because I know that in the end, I'll tire of him if he doesn't spark my interest in some new way or another. I sacrifice the bad boy because, like that free bagel with cream cheese, he won't be good for me the morning after.

In the end, there are a series of computations our minds calculate before finally deciding which action would best lead us to the goal. Should we choose the action that leads us astray from our ultimate goal, it would have led us closer to another goal. If our lives are a series of rule-action-goal calculations, why is it so damn hard to stay logical?

Why can't I just avoid walking towards the free bagels and creatively flavored muffins and just fit into my swimsuit already?