Welcome to the “Return of the Dietitian’s Husband” (or, The Horror of the Holiday Bulge)!
This article was written by Bob, my husband and guest blogger. Here is his first article, in case you missed it, “The Agony of the Diabetes Dietitian’s Husband“.
There it was, approximately ten pounds of malicious metal and glass. The creature stared at me, daring me, mocking me. Its bulbous eye both inviting and foreboding. “Go ahead, try me” it seemed to say. “You think I’m afraid?” I said aloud. “You think I won’t do it?” Silence was the response. “I’ll show you. You have no power over me!” I steeled myself and took the first step and then the second.
Finally I looked down…at the scale.
Yes, it is after the holidays and, having ignored my wife’s good counsel, I have increased my bulk by a few pounds.
Like many, it wasn’t the wonderful food I got at home (although there was plenty of turkey, ham, pies and cookies), it was my well-meaning co-workers that caused my undoing.
How do you say no when someone is begging you to try their triple fudge marshmallow pecan surprise with peanut butter frosting? (Okay, I made that up, but you get the picture).
So here I was, full and a little depressed. What do I do now?
As you have probably figured out, I consulted my wife.
As always, her advice was wise and wonderful (she didn’t actually pay me to say that, but I’m hoping to cash in later). The first step was not to beat myself up. This is more important than you may realize, as it is easy to fall back into bad habits when you are discouraged.
The next step was to NOT go on a diet. I just needed to get back to reasonable eating (tonight that included delicious homemade split pea and barley soup, whole wheat bread and a reasonable dessert (either a couple of cookies or the last piece of pumpkin bread that I hid from my daughter…just kidding dear). Finally, I have gotten back to regular exercise. Just moving helps me control my appetite and provides additional motivation to eat better.
Finally, if I have a “bad day,” i.e. I don’t exercise or I eat too much, I just erase the day and start the next with a positive attitude. If I have a second bad day in a row, I erase that day as well. Eventually I put together one day, then another.
That was great! I thoroughly enjoyed your blog Bob!!!!! You can be quite clever. You should do a regular column. Good luck on the sensible eating.