With the new year upon us, we're all looking in the mirrors and thinking "maybe I should have skipped that third helping of dressing at Christmas". Okay, maybe I'm the only one who ate three helpings of dressing but we all overindulged! Turns out people gain an average of 5 pounds from holiday excess, and I'm no exception. I've noticed I'm becoming softer and squishy. Pants are fitting a little more snug than usual. The culprit? Overeating and not exercising. I've also been having a lot more sugar in the form of creamer and sweets, so that's another factor.
That being said, it's tempting to turn to a crazy diet to help shed those pounds quickly. Don't do it! Here's a good article on the five diets to really stay away from. I also saw a commercial for the Atkins diet on TV the other day. I actually like the principle, but I could never cut carbs like that. More and more research is finding that we're overweight because of our sweet tooths (sweet teeth?), not the fat in our diets. See, if you eat more sugar than your body needs then it gets converted to fat and triglycerides. Triglycerides are really bad for your heart. Too much sugar in your body also causes your pancreas to work harder and make your cells more insulin resistant, setting you up for type 2 diabetes. Ignore your type 2 diabetes long enough and your pancreas shuts down, turning you into a type 1 diabetic (or what Rex calls type 3 - not producing insulin and being insulin resistant).
I've purchased more fruit to eat at home to help those sweet cravings. As soon as the chocolate covered raisins are all gone. Party food is still being eaten up at home because I can't throw it away. Raisins are good for you right? Yup. But the milk chocolate coating them is horrible. I also am getting back on my regular eating cycle after the holidays, so more cooking at home with the foods I like to eat and know work for me.
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