Goodbye holidays
Hoping everyone had a fun, fantastic, exciting and relaxing mix of holiday events or lack thereof. Whatever you did, what best suited your mood and needs. Since the holidays were reduced to a compact week, from Saturday to Sunday, there was no time to languish. You had to turn sixteen that vacation time with your hands and feet to make the most of it.
For me, holidays mean visiting family, since they live in another country (Canada), this is only a semi-annual event and therefore more meaningful. I have to inhale all of them to their essence and then painfully release them. Because it is a large family, it takes concentration and a lot of energy, especially since there are a growing number of children and I certainly do not want to miss any of the details of their development. I also want to be remembered in a meaningful way until the next time I see them in six months. Christmas shopping helps.
With family being the central focus of the holiday, all other Christmas worries fade away. Although in the end, after we got to New York and I stepped back on my scale, I realized something very important. I’m sure you remember my first “diet” experiment which was “Atkins” and its terrible results. Since then, I have brought carbohydrates back into my daily regimen, once again focusing on healthy whole grains, plenty of veggies, and lean protein. I’m also trying to eat more meals with smaller portions to regulate my blood sugar, which means there are no spikes in blood sugar that trigger insulin that triggers cortisol and causes fat storage around the abdomen. Usually I can make time for four meals a day. So this year’s results from the holiday meals were amazing because my weight hadn’t changed at all. Whereas last year when I left the Atkins I had gained four pounds during the holidays. This is why I got such different results. It wasn’t because this time I was more disciplined and controlled. It wasn’t because he avoided food, either. It was because my body was used to carbohydrates, which are a necessary component of daily nutrients, that I did not have this overreaction with water retention to the additional carbohydrates.
I have to tell you here that my brother’s wife, Bonnie, is an amazing cook. I strongly advised him to share his gifts and develop his talents professionally. He had to try everything he did because he knew how great it would be. Although I admit it uses sugar and some kind of white flour and butters, I allow whatever it does to my stomach is glorious and therefore has to be good for me. I know it is not rational, but the scale does not lie and I did not gain a pound. I also had only a few days of eating these foods, but enough to have hurt in the past year.
Another part of the mysterious weight patterns is that once my body got used to carbohydrates again with a healthy and balanced diet, my metabolism found its homeostasis, a fixed point where the body wants to stay. Yes, it’s a couple pounds more than where I was when I was on Atkins, but now it’s healthy and balanced and surprisingly easy to maintain … as my vacation experience has shown. Training? Well okay, I squeezed a couple, was not sedentary, and walked outside with my mother in eight inches of snow and howling winds for an hour one day. Which I couldn’t have done while on Atkins due to lack of power.
Now, I’m not telling you to go out with reckless abandon and eat whatever tastes good. In your daily routine, moderate discipline and control with regular exercise are your mainstays for health, fitness, and youth. The great thing about eating carbs is that during the holidays you can kick up your feet, enjoy yourself, relax, and make the most of what life has to offer.