Okay, so this post is a bit of a rant about my foolishness regarding calorie intake during the holidays. I have just spent the last five days throwing caution to the wind when it comes to what I eat. And in those five days, I have gained a whopping five pounds! What’s worse is I felt guilty and worried about weight gain the whole time, so I didn’t even really enjoy it. How annoying is that?
The most abnoxious part is that I chose to eat lots of “worthless calories,” meaning that I ate a bunch of little candies, mints, taffies, desserts, chips and dip, sugary drinks, eggnog, etc., just because they were there. Instead of resisting those “worthless calories” and not packing on extra fat, I gave in and just ate whatever was there. How stupid!
The way I see it, if you’re going to splurge over the holidays, why not do it with something you really just love to eat? I ended up wasting my caloric input on a bunch of stuff that I wasn’t even all that interested in eating.
It doesn’t help that we’re dealing with short days, long nights and cold, windy conditions outside, which makes it a real challenge for me to go out and exercise. I think it also messes with my craving for food. Instead of wanting to eat veggies and fruits, my inner caveman is concerned about survival until the spring, so I crave calorie-dense foods, which are high in fat and protein. My body thinks it NEEDS to put on extra fat to ward off the ever-present threat of starvation that our ancestors faced every winter.
So in the spirit of honoring my ancestors, I packed on extra pounds last week and now weigh 175, which is 8 pounds over my lowest weight of the year of 167. So my goal is to get back to 167 over the next three weeks before we go on our trip to Florida. I guess I’d better start up yet another weight loss contest with my friend Mike. 
(And here I thought that my beard shaving and haircut would help me drop at least a couple of pounds in hair weight alone!)
December 30, 2008 at 1:21 pm |
Good luck! Chris and I decided that we really need to focus on weight loss and healthier habits this coming year so we’re trying to come up with some sort of a competition/insentive plan to do with each other. So if you have any ideas let us know.
January 1, 2009 at 5:04 pm |
Hey,’m reading your post and posting my comment from your blackberry. Sorry to hear about the weight gain. You will take it off by Flrida!
January 1, 2009 at 8:56 pm |
Mmmm…those chocolates look goood…
January 5, 2009 at 3:36 pm |
I’ve been reading a little about eating “mindfully,” which you kind of refer to. Whether or not we are trying to lose weight, it would be so much healthier to actually think about what it is we’re putting in our mouths, whether we want or need it, whether we’re even hungry, etc. I think it’s a good principle — maybe harder to practice in our busy lives.