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Bad food choices go back to Adam & Eve
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___ As I sit amid the piles of Halloween candy our children extorted from the neighbors, I am reminded of one of the great paradoxes of life: Why do I crave chocolate so deeply while at the same time deeply desiring to be thin, muscular and the owner of blood vessels not clogged with fat?
___Our boys have asked me about this problem several times. Why are things that taste so good usually so bad for you? I’m sure it has something to do with
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MARK WINGFIELD
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Adam and Eve and that darned piece of fruit, but I’m hard-pressed to give an answer.
___We all have our vices, I guess. Some people are tempted by chicken-fried steak, nachos and cheeseburgers. You can keepall that stuff, because it doesn’t matter to me whether I have it or not. But if there’s anything sweet on the table, especially if it’s chocolate, get out of my way.
___ I’ve been around the table enough times by now to understand that promises of low-fat this and reduced-fat that just don’t cut it. The stuff either really is low-fat but tastes like dog food or tastes good but still has half a zillion grams of fat in it. The sad reality is that avoiding certain kinds of foods is the only way out.
___ This is a hard thing for a male to face up to, particularly a soon-to-be middle-aged male who until recent years was able to eat anything in sight and not gain weight. Believe me, the phrase "middle-age spread" does not refer to the feast laid out on the table for your birthday party.
___ Something really does happen in the body as you get older, causing the metabolism to slow down. I can almost pinpoint the week it hit me, the week something inside flipped the switch from "calorie-burning youngster" to "fat-absorbing middle-aged man."
___ And now the choices are so hard. Should I eat what I really want? Or should I resist temptation and just drink a glass of water instead?
___ Maybe I’ll have another Nestle’ Crunch while I think about my options.
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__At least Mark can remember a time when he could eat whatever he wanted and stay thin. I sure can’t. And even though he has gained weight in the last few years, it’s nothing compared to the load I’m carrying.
___ Watching my weight is a constant battle and always has been. And believe me, I’ve watched it--grow and grow.
___ As I once told my doctor, my biggest downfalls are the ch’s: chips, cheese and chocolate. The only nutritious ch that balances this trio
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ALISON WINGFIELD
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is chicken. Of which I am also fond.
___ When the boys were younger, I could always blame it on having twins. But now that they’re 7, that excuse is pretty thin. Actually, the year after the twins were born, I was thin. Nursing twins does have its advantages. I could eat anything I wanted and kept loosing weight.
___ In fact, that was the year Mark started gaining weight. I would have to constantly chow down to keep up the nursing schedule, and Mark ate right along with me. After we put the boys to bed, we both would hit the ice cream or some other snack. Sometimes I would even eat another meal--and still lost weight.
___ After I stopped nursing, it was a different story. Those bad habits were in place. I kept eating whatever I wanted, but now the weight headed the other direction.
___ The battle over food and weight reminds us of the importance of establishing healthy habits in all areas of life. Bad habits--even those that may not weigh us down at first--eventually will catch up with us all.
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He Said/She Said is a new regular feature of the Baptist Standard's on-line edition. Mark Wingfield is managing editor of the Standard. Alison Wingfield is a freelance writer. The Wingfields moved to Texas in January from Louisville, Ky., where Mark had been editor of the Western Recorder, in which this column appeared weekly. |
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