‘Tis the season to gain weight!
Starting at Thanksgiving, we all begin making excuses about what we put in our mouths. This attitude lasts from October (for Canadians) or November (for Americans) to after New Year. The gorging on turkey, ham, stuffing, yams, potatoes, and pies leads us to make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, which usually end in failure, only to do it all over again the next year.
How can we safely tread this dangerous minefield of goodies that is the winter holiday season? To me, the answer is quite simple: nothing changes. Just because we’re celebrating some arbitrary holiday(s) does not mean we should gorge ourselves into a food coma.
On Christmas eve I ate ham, spinach salad, and baked potatoes. On Christmas day I ate turkey, carrots and sweet potatoes. Breakfast consisted of eggs with bacon or ham. Snacks were beef jerky, clementines, and some chocolates. I did not gain any weight with this diet, nor did I feel hungry or deprived. Everyone around me was eating stuffing, dinner rolls, sweet bread, and cookies. I felt no need or cravings for these other foods and just stuck to meat, greens, and root veggies. I did make a concession for chocolate, but I did not eat as much as last year, when I gorged on all kinds of sweets.
My main point with this article is that there is no need for willpower if we eat real foods that fill us up and do not cause appetite stimulation. Why indulge in foods that make us sick after we eat them? There is no benefit, except a momentary one to our taste buds.