We all know the story of "The Night before Christmas". The star of the story is good ol' St Nick with his cherry red cheeks, loud jolly laugh, and the infamous belly that shook like a bowl full of jelly. I think this is best depiction of what people turn into right around the time St Nick is due to pay a visit. Judging by the way the break room looks, I would say the whole office will have a jelly filled muffin top, once January 1st rolls around.
I of course, am no exception. I arrived at work this morning after consuming my apple and resisting the urge to stop at Starbucks, only to find a bag of homemade goodies on my desk from one of the best chefs in our office! With a gleam in my eye, I slowly opened the bag to see what the damage would be. I decided, I will eat only one frosted sugar cookie. Then I realized, I didn't really eat much for breakfast, so I will have another treat. So I went for the peanut butter fudge. It melted in my mouth and begged me to have some more. One cookie led to eating half the bag of goodies. Then came the guilt.
Noon rolled around and I knew I had to erase some of the damage I had done this morning, so I threw on my running shoes and ran around mile loop twice, with very few walking breaks. At least I felt a little better.
But when I went into the break room to heat up my tomato soup, a gleam of light shone down on a pan full of fudge. It would be completely wrong of me to not have a piece. It is fudge! And can I say, it was the best fudge I have ever tasted.
So, what I want to know is, who started the Christmas tradition of eating sweets until you burst? America has the highest obesity rate in the world, and we are still in our kitchens baking dozens and dozens of cookies to give the gift of flab. Maybe I am a Bitter Betty, but it makes it much more difficult to drop the nasty poundage when there are treats staring you strait in the face. I am not just worried about my uncontrollable urges to stuff my face, but the people with health problems that have a hard time controlling themselves.
So lets make a new tradition! Lets give people the gift of health. They may not initially smile when you give them the asparagus wrapped in a bow. But when they discover their blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight has went down, they will thank you for caring about their welfare.
