Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The voices in my head.....


I think everyone should have chocolate for breakfast once in a while. Not just "hot chocolate" I mean REAL chocolate like "Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake" (Tell me this doesn't look good!)

.....it's sitting right there on my counter this morning taunting me. And the war in my head begins..
"Wow, there's cake left!"
"You know better than that, do you really want to go back out and run again this morning....huh?....I didn't think so"
"Well, I could eat it now and run harder tomorrow"
"Yeah, like you'll really do that Ha Ha!"
"Not to be rude but , shut up"
"Chocolate cake isn't good for you"
"Who says?"
"THEY do"
"Who's they?"
"The same people who say you get pinched on St. Patty's day if you don't wear green (see Jessica's Post)"
"Oh, well they're probably the same people who make up the "ideal weight charts" and post them on the internet to torture us.....and frankly, my dear, I just don't trust them"

I'm not going to eat the cake, but it's not because They won the war, it's because if I eat the cake HH will know I ate it (because we're the only two people in the house) and I'm more afraid of peer pressure, (he hears my daily laments regarding the threat of encroaching fatness) than I am of their criticism!

The war over chocolate cake is similar to my daily battle to get out of bed at 5:30 ....What, you might ask, would be a good enough reason to get out of bed at that hour? EXACTLY my point! I get up that early so I can get in an hour of exercise before getting Daughter #3 ready for school. Let me tell you, leaving a warm bed to go outside to the cold garage and face the treadmill and weight machine is NOT the most enticing temptation going. I usually spend at least 5 minutes telling myself I really don't want to do it, and then another 5 (okay so I don't REALLY get UP at 5:30) convincing myself that if I don't I won't be able to wear anything in my closet! Weak motivation but motivation nonetheless.

Frankly, with the threat of being "50" looming on the very near horizon, I'm getting more than a little worried about those "voices". Not so much about them being there (they're rather like familiar old friends now) , but about them taking over completely so that I can't make a decision without a good 10 minute head start. I'm going to look pretty silly standing stock still in front of the dairy case with skim milk in one hand and heavy cream in the other while "they" make alternate arguments for low-carb vs. low-fat diets! It's maddening I tell you, and probably the logical by-product of too much information.

In my grandma's day I know the major question she had at breakfast (because I was there) was whether to serve cream on our oatmeal (warm right from the cow....and frankly still smelling a tad bit like "old bossy"), or save it to make butter later. It wasn't a question of whether bacon was good for you, it was a question of whether you had any in the smokehouse. Green Beans vs. mashed potatoes?...easy, is it Spring or Fall? That's what's changed....we just have way too much, which means way too many choices.

I'd like to say I'm ready to give up my life of ease to avoid the really "hard" decisions regarding nutrition but I'm pretty sure "they" would know I'm lying and I'd be hearing about it for the rest of the day!

"Okay, okay! I'm going to go do something productive right NOW!, nobody ever got the laundry done by writing blogs all day! (or so they're telling me)"

Sure Love Ya!

5 comments:

sweet mama entropy said...

Thanks for the link :) I've had the "too much" conversation with many of my new mom friends. It seems like there's way too much info about what all you can do to mess up your children. It makes you want to put them on a pedestal (straped on with a five-point harness, of course) just so they won't get hurt and THEY won't tell you that you've made a mistake. The solution we've come up with? Stop reading all the books (or in this case the weight charts:) Simplicity is a good thing. Not that I want to have to milk "ol bossy" - besides I actually like skim milk!

Grammy said...

Chocolate cake sounds like a balanced breakfast to me. But then I grew up on the Pennsylvania Dutch theory that apple pie, cheddar cheese and milk make up the absolutely perfect breakfast menu. I still like it better than shredded wheat & skim milk. (But THEY say I'd do better with the later.)

I also excercise. I hate it, but some things just have to be done. This morning I combined my 2 need to do activities by riding my bike to scripture study at the church. It usually takes about 20 minutes each way. When I arrive out of breath, sweaty and with severe helmut head no one even laughs at me (Folks are nice at church.) Today the wind was coming out of the N/NE which means getting there was no trouble, but coming home took a Loooonnnnggg time. My knees are now crying out for glucosamine. This getting old stuff - STINKS!

Sarah said...

There's nothing wrong with the occasional piece of chocolate cake for breakfast!

Bobita said...

Great posts!

I loved your Paradoxical Commandments post...

Patti said...

Oh man. I can't think of anything better than chocolate pudding cake for breakfast. When you come visit us this summer we will have to make it.

I have the same conversation in my head every morning that I am supposed to get up and go to the gym. I have to think I have it worse because I have to get in a car and drive to the treadmill.