Take It All Off, Part 5
Ah, the seduction of food. That's right, you heard me. Seduction. There is absolutely an unspoken attraction to a firm mound of mashed potatoes and a pool of satiny butter. And there is no doubt that a warm apple pie, with a dollop of vanilla ice cream slowly melting atop a flakey crust, teases the senses and leads to irrational desire!
The Temptress
Like a leading character in a romance novel, food can be a temptress: sensory and sensual, urging us toward emotional cravings and overindulgences which end in dieter's despair. Madame Indulgent Foodstuff (I think of it as a she, with some salty experience in her (shelf)life...) can be adventurous, foreign, expansive, uncontrollable, irrational, demanding, dangerous! She wears fluffy icings, sugary come-ons, multi-colored sauces and colorful garnishes to cover her health-wrecking ways. She's a sly one, infiltrating our minds, our bodies, our organs, our cells.... and ultimately our waistlines! Off with her head!
Wait a minute, not so fast. You need food to survive. You can't simply go cold turkey (which, by the way, would be quite nutritious). Instead, you've got to control this wild entity and turn her into the ladylike Harbinger of Health (HOH, which for "Big Brother" fans, is not representative of "head of household") that she can be.
Find the Alternative
It's all about choices. Madame Foodstuff may show up, for example, as a cinnamon bun. According to The Diet Detective, Charles Stuart Platkin's "Think Before You Eat" online platform for weight loss, one cinnamon bun with icing commands from 620 to 846 calories. To burn that off, you're looking at 3.63 HOURS of walking! That's an additional half shift. Ouch!
Turn to an HOH option instead, and opt for a piece of cinnamon raisin toast. (One slice of Pepperidge Farm brand will demand a mere 80 calories from your daily diet budget.)
Think of food however you will. But remember that self-esteem makes itself known in the company you keep, as well as the food choices you make. Put the madame in her place! And before you fall for her seduction, just stop.... and, as Platkin advises, think.