Time...flies!

November 18, 2009

This past week I’ve been pouring over my old journals—a veritable stroll down memory lane. What shocks me most about these journals is the continual theme of having difficulty with controlling sugar intake. One journal when I was in my early 20’s talks about me reading a book on the health hazards of sugar and how I vowed to cut it out of my life for good. Other journal entries throughout the years have the same theme—mostly bemoaning my overindulgence in sugar laden foods and the day after with its unpleasant hangover symptoms—headache, lethargy, depression and so forth. I note that there are no entries discussing any problem with controlling broccoli or onion intake. I even have one entry that vows to conquer the problem so I won’t have to deal with it in my 40’s (Of course back then I didn’t think I would ever be 40!). So here I am 30 years later bemoaning a problem that I clearly identified in writing while still in my youth. It appears then that knowledge is not particularly power and that the more things change the more they stay the same. When I write my autobiography it will certainly have to be titled ‘Time Flies When You’re Eating Sugar” or how about ‘Time Flies When You’re Gaining Weight’ or maybe just ‘Time Flies’.

divine AA

AA says that service is a way of getting out of our addictions and into recovery. I think God sort of said this first. Who’d have thought He knew! It seems that when I do things for others I feel better about myself and less likely to indulge in self-pity which inevitably leads to other indulgences and then I find myself plunging head first into a bag or box or bowl of something not nutritious. So today when a colleague called and asked me to proof read an essay for her I took it as an opportunity to share my talent with someone else and improve my chances for keeping my appetite within the bounds the Lord has set. Service has a magical way of bringing a smile to the day—not so much service with a smile but service brings the smile. The happy moods associated with helping others are akin to the endorphins of exercise. Thankfully I was able to experience both highs today and I’d rather be high in mood than weight any day! Service anyone?

pig out vaccine

This week I finally gave into the vaccine hounds and got flu vaccines—two; one for the regular flu and one for the H1N1, commonly known on the streets as swine flu, aka pig flu.. To tell you the truth I would rather have been vaccinated against pig out flu! H1N1 could stand for heavy one/no one. To a food junkie and one who suffers from pigging out, the swine flu could mean binging sickness. My mind got racing and fantasizing about a vaccine against pigging out and becoming fat. Now THERE’S a vaccine I would like to be known for. Can you imagine what it would be like if there was a simple shot you could take that would prevent you from eating too much!? I would be laughing all the way to the scale. Of course there would be some industries that would fight its release and availability to the masses (no pun intended)—like for instance the food industry. Wouldn’t that cut into their profits if people were getting a shot to stop them from overeating. And what about the weight loss industry. Wouldn’t they be ticked if everyone finally solved their weight problems? Whatever would Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, weight watchers and more do! And what about the plus size fashions and all those styles and clothes designed to make us look thinner? There they go right out the syringe with the pig out flu!

happy holidays...

What is it with us and our pig out holidays? Having just come through Halloween I wonder what the heck anything has to do with chocolate and yet every holiday that comes along seems to require chocolate or it hasn’t been properly observed and celebrated. After taking my lovely daughter and her charming husband to the Spokane airport I did some respectable grocery shopping at Costco – no junk food or anything chocolate related (OK so I ate the free Costco samples and some of them were less than virtuous!). I abstained from purchasing junk food until I was almost home then the panic hit – what if my friend brings her five children trick or treating to my house tonight and I don’t have anything to give them except a carrot—not that there’s anything wrong with a carrot! So I pulled over to the gas station and convenience store to buy junk food to hand out. Of course no one came trick or treating and guess who ate the treats. I’m not even going to go there! And all because of some pagan ridiculous holiday that never had anything to do with food until the capitalistic pigs decided there was money to be made! And I along with millions of others chose to buy (no pun intended) into it. I wonder if I could swing the trends and start cabbage soup for all holidays. Doesn’t that sound like something worth celebrating!

transitional living

Times of transition seem to take their toll on maintaining healthy routines. This past week I have transitioned from being a mother to being a mother in law. The week leading up to this wonderful event saw me cabbage soup dieting in anticipation of fitting into my suit. The week following this blessed event has seen me bread and cheese dieting to assuage the anxieties and uncertainties that often accompany threats to familiarity. If my lovely daughter’s wedding was the only change blessing my life at present I may not be feeling such anxiety; however, I returned home to see my dear neighbor and walking buddy packing up to move to a distant city (her house is for sure sold); and the weather definitely transitioned from Indian summer to outright prairie like winter—brrrrr; and to top it off I turned 54! How the hell did that happen—I could have sworn I was just 18 yesterday!

For some unknown reason and I’m sure someday I will have a psychobiological explanation for it, food seems to provide the illusion of security and comfort when the world around me is seemingly spinning out of control. Hence, the bread and cheese! Lots of it—and with it, the illusion of home and family; love and comfort; security and peace. Life may be changing and the years flying by, but bread and cheese is still bread and cheese.