Is it that time again? When reality hits and it all seems worse than you thought it would be? Back on the scale, after gaining some extra holiday pounds?
Unfortunately, the pain of reality doesn’t stop there. Leaving the holiday spirit and its food behind isn’t as easy as just saying no. Even if we feel a sense of relief that the holidays are over, getting back to normal isn’t that simple. Why is that?
Well, for one, your body has been getting all cozy and comfortable on (appropriately) comfort food. The cravings don’t stop just because the holidays are over. Quite the opposite, actually. Holiday food is a bit like a drug. (Partly because of what’s in the food, but we’ll get back to that in a second.) When the holidays are over, we experience withdrawal, from the food and from what the holidays represent: the sharing of food and the gathering with friends and family. Communities formed by the holidays have now dispersed. Even if it was stressful, it’s also stressful to look ahead and see a few months of dark, cold nights ahead of us. This is a time when we’d probably prefer to continue indulging ourselves with comfort foods, but our conscience and better judgment tell us it's time to stop the party.
Comfort foods not only attract; they addict. When we eat high-fat foods, load up on sweets and baked goods, drink wine, and stuff ourselves with lots of carbohydrates, the body begins to expect that type of sustenance and starts craving more of those things. Once we’ve started that wheel spinning, it’s hard to put a stick in there to stop it. For most of us, it’s best to slow down gradually. For others, putting on the brakes and stopping bad habits immediately is the best way to go. Only you know which method will work best for you.
But be conscience of this: starchy foods, sugar, and alcohol today create a desire for more starchy food, sugar, and alcohol tomorrow. Compare the effect of sugar on the body on to an invasion of “sugar Pacmen™.” These Pacmen™ eat up sugar and want more and more, faster and faster, as the game progressively leads to higher and higher scores.
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