Surf the web and you will find a overload of information on nutrition for athletes during the Holiday Season. Most with the same good advice, don’t over eat, make healthy choices, etc. But none of the advice ever covers my problem about why I gain that extra 2 to 4 pounds. My weaknesses are Christmas cookies…the ones made with butter and topped with sugar icing in the shape of trees, stars or snowmen. It comes from the bad luck of growing up with a mom that was a great baker. And then being enabled by having two wives that could bake as good as mom (don’t go there). Many hours were spent with mom or my family in the kitchen making them from scratch. Cutting out shapes, tasting the dough and eating cookies hot out of the oven. As close to food heaven as I ever been.
As you can guess my problem is more that just the great taste. If it was only about taste I could stop and make a healthy choice like Holiday rice cakes. Or weigh my cookies like Lance. No, my problems stem from the emotional attachment (baggage good & bad) that goes with each one I eat. A mom that passed away to young, wives I’m not with and kids that are growing up so fast, are put aside by the memory of the happy times we spent baking during the Holidays .
So if you are like me and have that one or two poor nutrition choices that for whatever reason you can’t say no to in the Holiday Season, take solace in knowing you are not alone. So this winter I will keep riding and try to keep my weight gain to under three pounds. But I’m going to enjoy the Holidays and eat my fare share of Christmas cookies. It’s a lot more fun and less costly than a year of therapy.
If you are in need of advice on nutrition, please go to a local professional.
Happy Holidays
Socks and me