Tootsie Roll Trap
We went up and visited my maternal grandparents for the day on Saturday. I helped Nana sort through her Christmas decorations, in preparation for the move to a retirement community apartment. Dr. Parts got roped into some outdoor clean-up work by the team of cousins who were there. They have a much higher energy level than I do. I also felt like I was getting some dirty looks from them, because I wasn’t out there helping to move the woodpile. Well, they don’t know about my foot condition, and I wasn’t in any mood to explain myself. I was doing what I could do, given my physical condition, and I am not required to justify my actions to them. I did tell my grandparents, however. The feet were pretty painful this weekend.
While we were there, the kitchen sink started leaking, and Dr. Parts was able to do some simple repairs that would have been a big project to my grandfather. Dr. Parts gets a gold star for service above and beyond the call of duty. The faucet hasn’t given them any problems for years, but now, after the house has closed, and they have 60 days to live in it, now it starts leaking. Alas. The repairs kept us there for an extra two hours or so.
I’ve been thinking about being food-centric.
My grandparents have chosen their retirement community based largely on the quality and type of food offered. They're entitled to do this. When I was writing about the diabetic who just loved to cook and bake, and made a career change to become a pastry chef (!), I thought about saying that a diabetic should not make food the center, the focus, of her life.
Well, that’s silly, I thought. We diabetics have to focus on food. It’s hard for a diabetic to avoid being food-centric. What we eat is an important part of managing our disease. There must be a better way to phrase the concept that I have in mind.
Maybe what I want to say is that we should not be food worshippers. We must not be gluttons. We must not be gourmands. (A gourmand is a person who really likes good food and drink but tends to eat and drink too much.)
We can be gourmets, that is, we can appreciate excellent flavor and preparation in food and drink, but diabetics, especially type 2s, cannot eat to excess without damaging our bodies and sending our disease into overdrive. We seem to treat it as an addictive substance, a can’t-live-without-it.
Gosh, surely I can live without Tootsie Rolls. And yet, I still eat them to excess if I purchase them. How puzzling that I would do this to myself. I had a reading of 257 this week, post-Tootsie Rolls. Shame on me! And in the grand scheme of things, are Tootsie Rolls really that much a taste treat for me? They'd hardly qualify as 'gourmet'. What a thing it is to be human.
I know that one of the physicians associated with Dr. McDougall’s program speaks to this point. I want to order this DVD of his presentation on The Pleasure Trap. And a trap it is!
I am always learning and growing. I still have much to do.
While we were there, the kitchen sink started leaking, and Dr. Parts was able to do some simple repairs that would have been a big project to my grandfather. Dr. Parts gets a gold star for service above and beyond the call of duty. The faucet hasn’t given them any problems for years, but now, after the house has closed, and they have 60 days to live in it, now it starts leaking. Alas. The repairs kept us there for an extra two hours or so.
I’ve been thinking about being food-centric.
My grandparents have chosen their retirement community based largely on the quality and type of food offered. They're entitled to do this. When I was writing about the diabetic who just loved to cook and bake, and made a career change to become a pastry chef (!), I thought about saying that a diabetic should not make food the center, the focus, of her life.
Well, that’s silly, I thought. We diabetics have to focus on food. It’s hard for a diabetic to avoid being food-centric. What we eat is an important part of managing our disease. There must be a better way to phrase the concept that I have in mind.
Maybe what I want to say is that we should not be food worshippers. We must not be gluttons. We must not be gourmands. (A gourmand is a person who really likes good food and drink but tends to eat and drink too much.)
We can be gourmets, that is, we can appreciate excellent flavor and preparation in food and drink, but diabetics, especially type 2s, cannot eat to excess without damaging our bodies and sending our disease into overdrive. We seem to treat it as an addictive substance, a can’t-live-without-it.
Gosh, surely I can live without Tootsie Rolls. And yet, I still eat them to excess if I purchase them. How puzzling that I would do this to myself. I had a reading of 257 this week, post-Tootsie Rolls. Shame on me! And in the grand scheme of things, are Tootsie Rolls really that much a taste treat for me? They'd hardly qualify as 'gourmet'. What a thing it is to be human.
I know that one of the physicians associated with Dr. McDougall’s program speaks to this point. I want to order this DVD of his presentation on The Pleasure Trap. And a trap it is!
I am always learning and growing. I still have much to do.
posted by Lori Rode @ 5:11 PM
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