It starts out innocently...You
head to the office and low and behold someone has brought in holiday cookies. It is Friday afternoon and you justify that you have been
'good' all week so "why not?" 1 somehow turns into 3 and you further
reason that Annie from accounting has eaten 6 already so you must be
much more disciplined.
According
to the U.S.D.A., 1 shortbread cookie contains 105 calories with over 45
of those calories coming from fat. Your 3 cookies added up to 315
extra calories - you chalk it up to a long work week. When you come
home you have a martini and then some wine with dinner. You begin to
relax again and feel at ease. A small to medium vodka martini has
approximately 127 calories. A glass of wine has approximately 100
calories.
Alcohol
confuses the body and prevents the liver from producing glucose. When
alcohol is combined with sugar the body will have an insulin spike
followed by a rapid crash or an attack of hypoglycemia. This causes a
cycle of needing another 'hit' of sugar to come up again.
Just
two extra cookies or a holiday latte each day for one week can add
up to 3500 calories which is equivalent to one pound of fat. Once our body creates new fat cells it cannot ever lose them, they can only shrink. This is why scientists suggest that gaining and losing weight over and over again is very hard on the body.
The
Holidays offer many opportunities to consume extra sugar and alcohol-I
too struggle with saying NO! To be in balance is to have the health to
support the life we want to live and occasionally, as in once per week,
having that cookie, is fine as long as you are aware of how to offset
the sugar coursing through your veins. Take your POWER back by
understanding your relationship with food and reminding yourself of how
good it feels in the "after-effect." Here are some tips:
Tips for Dealing with Sugar
- Have one 'cheat' day once per week and allow yourself to indulge. Make sure you exercise on that day.
- Eat mindfully. It takes the body at least 20 to register fullness and in that time you can consume a lot of calories. Savor each morsel, breathe and be aware.
- Combine your sugar with a protein. This will slow down the conversion to blood glucose. As a kid you probably had cookies and milk and then went to run outside and play. The same holds true though I recommend that if you do have something sugary that you have ½ a protein shake.
- Eat before you go to the party. Have a small handful of organic raw almonds, a glass of sparkling water or ½ a protein shake.
- Avoid combining sugar and alcohol. You will feel the effects. If you choose to drink keep the sugar and the alcohol separate by at least half an hour or longer.
- Focus on your goal. Is it worth it to have a second, third or fourth cookie?
- Take a multi-vitamin that contains chromium. Chromium is a wonderful nutrient that helps to regulate blood glucose levels.
- Never consume artificial sweeteners.
