Why Is Everything I Eat Bad For Me?

It’s another holiday season and the same question comes to mind that I wonder every year. Why is it that everything that tastes good is bad for you? I went to a Christmas party last week and had some chips and dip for the first time in about a year. Wow! It was amazing. I had forgotten how awesome those two simple ingredients tasted together. Only fear of public scrutiny prevented me from pulling up a chair and diving in face first. Then I remembered about all the fat I would be ingesting and the urge passed…eventually. Then there was a cheese ball with these scrumptious sesame seed crackers. It was heavenly. Then again, there was the fat and cholesterol. Christmas came and the stocking was full. I think Santa put an apple and an orange in to make it feel like I wasn’t totally going overboard. Then came the good stuff. There were miniature candy bars and nearly a full pound Toblerone bar. American and Swiss chocolate were meeting on a joyous occasion to be consumed by me. Talk about the spirit of the season. Then there was the treat I waited for all year…a caramel apple dunked in chocolate and rolled in crushed Snickers bar topping. Once again, however, if you take away the apples and orange, it is a ton of sugar, fat and empty calories. It’s so unfair. Why must we crave things that are so bad for us? You never look forward to asparagus. No one ever hopes their stocking has spinach stuffed inside. We crave foods that are high in fat, sugar, cholesterol and calories. Then I recalled a program I had seen on the History Channel in which they said humans are hardwired, so to speak, to desire fatty and high calorie foods. If you look at the whole of Human existence, we spent most of our time on earth living hand to mouth. Starvation was a real problem. In such situations having it ingrained in your body to want foods that would store energy would prove most useful. During lean times your body would have a reserve to fall back upon. Thankfully, for many of us we no longer have to worry about starving to death but we still crave the high calorie foods. I guess when we were being made, it was never considered that chocolate, sour crème, sugar, fried foods and cheese would become so prevalent in our menu. It sounds like a pretty good explanation. Then again, it also sounds like a great excuse to overindulge. I confess that I have had more than my share of savory treats. We are forced to restrain ourselves for much of the year and that restraint goes out the window during the holidays. I am sure we could have a Christmas without chocolate. It seems to me it has happened in the past. Then again, what fun would that be? Part of the fun of the season is going overboard. So I ‘m keeping my candy. Besides, whatever would I choose for a New Year’s Resolution if I had already given up the fun foods?