59 + 10 days
Phew, just got through 4 days of holiday celebrations. I look forward to them every year, but I am also glad when they are done. I don’t think I am the only one that feels this way. From Halloween through New Years Day is what we call the “holiday season” — starting with costumes and candy and ending with champagne and celebrations.
One of my big challenges in managing all of the get-togethers is the sugar that comes attached to it. I love sugar. It is my favorite food group. I will eat sugar before, during, and after any meal and also in between. It’s my dieting downfall, it’s my biggest food nemesis, and even when I practice with the strongest will power that I have — it just isn’t enough — especially at Christmas time.
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I enjoying making Christmas cookies and I enjoy eating Christmas cookies. And it seems that once I start, I can’t seem to stop. Deciding to have one is never the end for me, it’s only the start — and if I happen to find one that I enjoy, you better hide the rest of them, because I will easily eat them all, if no one else intervenes. I think you call that binge eating and it’s a talent I have, that’s not one of my proudest achievements, that’s for sure.
Eating too much sugar, not only causes me to add extra pounds that I don’t need, but it’s also a major contributor to inflammation in my body. Which is not good, truly. But, yet, I can go for weeks of doing really well, and in just eating just one of the cookies I made, the sugar dam bursts and here I am again. The same spot I have been all too often. Mad at myself for eating food I don’t need, that makes my body feel bad after the fact, and for what? short term sugar high that leads to long term joint pain.
I know I am not the only one that does this — I have met many sugar warriors over the years, we all kind of chuckle the same, with that knowing glint in our eye that says “yes I know it’s bad for me, but I am going to do it anyway”.
So today is my day to regroup with my new year sugar strategy, because of course, this has happened every year of my life that I can remember — you know the one — NO MORE SUGAR FOR ME! Until I pick up a tootsie roll (my favorite candy) or see a dessert that looks delicious or walk into a bakery that sells cinnamon rolls (the single most important sugar experience for me). It’s Ok to have a few, but excess in anything isn’t good. I know it and so do you.
