Blog Dis
Wallowing in Carbohydrate Land
2024-12-17
There's a valid reason why we reach for carbohydrates when feeling stressed bcus the breads, rolls, pizzas, muffins, cookies and tortilla wraps of this yummy world are made with white flour that your body processes efficiently and neatly into sugars and/or fats, storing these not-so-lovely nutrients in your bodily tissues that you can gaze at weeks and months later on your thighs or tummy as they expand.
I've officially been wasting away in the land of stress since the beginning of December, which represents the last month of the calendar year, which also means that the Government will push forward umpteen deadlines in the form of Request for Proposals, presentations and the like, to ensure that the monies left in the Govt coffers won't go to waste. It means companies who provide services to the Government will all fight over the same scraps to pull in as much business for themselves as humanly possible, before the absolute end of the 2024 fiscal year. The stress is unrelenting, and every morning when I begin email triage, it feels like for every email I read and action, three more come in, rapid-fire, to replace the one I just deleted from my in box. I'm not even a proposal writer, though I've worked with plenty, so I know.
And so it goes, as it goes every year, every season. There are busy periods and then there are the busy-busy periods that heap onto the work pile a multitude of things that have-to-get-done, on top of the work pile of it can't-all-get-done before the holiday break. You see how easy it is to reach for carbohydrates to quell these stressful feelings? I don't buy cheap bread, the white variety that is bereft of nutrition. My pennies are best spent on artisan bread, like fresh sour dough, or a pure rye bread that doesn't have a trace of wheat, and I especially know to avoid 'enriched flour' which when printed on the label of a 100% rye only means the rye has been mixed with wheat. I'm tempted to reach for white bread, though, and I'd take it a step further by spreading across the nutrition-less piece of white bread some caramel chocolate spread at least two inches thick. However, wallowing in carbs won't bring me to an ideal state of mind that is without stress. Oh no. Carbs, however, will rev up serotonin levels in my brain, to give me only a temporarily lift, making me think that I'm managing my stress well. In other words, I'll feel better until I won't.
Homer Simpson trotted off to the Land of Chocolate and bounced his way through life-size chocolate creatures, taking huge bites and loving every minute of it. I'd rather romp through carb-land, a place where all kinds of freshly baked goods inhabit, like holiday specialties that include lemon breads and pumpkin pies, and flavoured rolls best suited for dunking in spicy chili. Why just this past weekend, I picked up a fresh garlic loaf and dunked it into some olive oil with a dollop of balsamic vinegar, after I had spread liberally over top some fresh humus. I could have died and gone to heaven, it was perfectly delicious. I would also make myself a sandwich consisting of several varieties of breads, loading it up with cheese and charcuterie to excite my palate. I wouldn't worry either about the size of my thighs or the fact that my tummy would initially love bread until ultimately carrying too much of its fat for all eternity. Carbs at least would take my mind off the fact that stress on the job is for the birds.
I have moments of doubt, though I don't doubt that a colleague will find me, to flip a last-minute Power Point deck that'll need to be finessed and finalized. Because, when you're efficient, reliable and loyal, work and stress will always find you. This is inevitable, a fact of life, much in the same manner that kids will drain you of every last ounce of your energy, while their energy continues to rev up, until that moment comes when they need to be put to bed, and will fight you every step of the way, in order that they can wake up the very next morning, ready to go again.
I wish you luck in the next week and a half that you don't allow yourself to become snowed-under with work, stress and unreasonable demands. Many succumb to ill-health at the holidays bcus they've pushed themselves too hard, so that by the time they stop, their body ceases to over-produce adrenalin and they get stick. It's as if the body knows you've stopped, so it has determined now is the ideal time to let down the immune system. If you feel yourself coming down with something, the old wives had some insight: change your toothbrush, change your bedsheets, and take a hot bath with some Epsom salts, which are rich in magnesium, to help your muscle tissue to relax. The act of soaking in hot water also raises the temperature of your blood, enabling it to fight off viruses and colds much faster; this is the reason why your body breaks out into chills because it's trying to tell you: Heat me up!
And should you encounter some deliciously baked banana bread, or in my case, tomato soup cake, may I suggest you cut yourself a large piece, and spread across it some thick cream cheese, and on top of this add some red-raspberry jam and wallow. You'll have time aplenty to take off those extra pounds in the New Year.
Oh! A point of clarification. There are complex carbs and there are simple carbs, so stop confusing people, by declaring that 'all carbs' are bad for you - this is misleading. Complex carbs are the good variety of fruits, and veggies, legumes, like beans, while simple carbs are the refined flours like white bread, muffins, soda pop, cookies and French fries and all the other evil stuff. The former we benefit by, while the latter is best avoided... unless your stress levels are through the roof.
[This is an old recipe, handed down to my mom from my paternal Irish grandmother, a Newfoundlander, and finally the recipe found its way to me. It's a no-fail recipe but depending on your oven, you may not need to bake it for one hour, so use a toothpick to test its readiness; you'll know by the awesome smell filling up your kitchen and the whole house. There's also no order to mix the ingredients. I throw them all into one large bowl and use a blender.]
I've officially been wasting away in the land of stress since the beginning of December, which represents the last month of the calendar year, which also means that the Government will push forward umpteen deadlines in the form of Request for Proposals, presentations and the like, to ensure that the monies left in the Govt coffers won't go to waste. It means companies who provide services to the Government will all fight over the same scraps to pull in as much business for themselves as humanly possible, before the absolute end of the 2024 fiscal year. The stress is unrelenting, and every morning when I begin email triage, it feels like for every email I read and action, three more come in, rapid-fire, to replace the one I just deleted from my in box. I'm not even a proposal writer, though I've worked with plenty, so I know.
And so it goes, as it goes every year, every season. There are busy periods and then there are the busy-busy periods that heap onto the work pile a multitude of things that have-to-get-done, on top of the work pile of it can't-all-get-done before the holiday break. You see how easy it is to reach for carbohydrates to quell these stressful feelings? I don't buy cheap bread, the white variety that is bereft of nutrition. My pennies are best spent on artisan bread, like fresh sour dough, or a pure rye bread that doesn't have a trace of wheat, and I especially know to avoid 'enriched flour' which when printed on the label of a 100% rye only means the rye has been mixed with wheat. I'm tempted to reach for white bread, though, and I'd take it a step further by spreading across the nutrition-less piece of white bread some caramel chocolate spread at least two inches thick. However, wallowing in carbs won't bring me to an ideal state of mind that is without stress. Oh no. Carbs, however, will rev up serotonin levels in my brain, to give me only a temporarily lift, making me think that I'm managing my stress well. In other words, I'll feel better until I won't.
Homer Simpson trotted off to the Land of Chocolate and bounced his way through life-size chocolate creatures, taking huge bites and loving every minute of it. I'd rather romp through carb-land, a place where all kinds of freshly baked goods inhabit, like holiday specialties that include lemon breads and pumpkin pies, and flavoured rolls best suited for dunking in spicy chili. Why just this past weekend, I picked up a fresh garlic loaf and dunked it into some olive oil with a dollop of balsamic vinegar, after I had spread liberally over top some fresh humus. I could have died and gone to heaven, it was perfectly delicious. I would also make myself a sandwich consisting of several varieties of breads, loading it up with cheese and charcuterie to excite my palate. I wouldn't worry either about the size of my thighs or the fact that my tummy would initially love bread until ultimately carrying too much of its fat for all eternity. Carbs at least would take my mind off the fact that stress on the job is for the birds.
I have moments of doubt, though I don't doubt that a colleague will find me, to flip a last-minute Power Point deck that'll need to be finessed and finalized. Because, when you're efficient, reliable and loyal, work and stress will always find you. This is inevitable, a fact of life, much in the same manner that kids will drain you of every last ounce of your energy, while their energy continues to rev up, until that moment comes when they need to be put to bed, and will fight you every step of the way, in order that they can wake up the very next morning, ready to go again.
I wish you luck in the next week and a half that you don't allow yourself to become snowed-under with work, stress and unreasonable demands. Many succumb to ill-health at the holidays bcus they've pushed themselves too hard, so that by the time they stop, their body ceases to over-produce adrenalin and they get stick. It's as if the body knows you've stopped, so it has determined now is the ideal time to let down the immune system. If you feel yourself coming down with something, the old wives had some insight: change your toothbrush, change your bedsheets, and take a hot bath with some Epsom salts, which are rich in magnesium, to help your muscle tissue to relax. The act of soaking in hot water also raises the temperature of your blood, enabling it to fight off viruses and colds much faster; this is the reason why your body breaks out into chills because it's trying to tell you: Heat me up!
And should you encounter some deliciously baked banana bread, or in my case, tomato soup cake, may I suggest you cut yourself a large piece, and spread across it some thick cream cheese, and on top of this add some red-raspberry jam and wallow. You'll have time aplenty to take off those extra pounds in the New Year.
Oh! A point of clarification. There are complex carbs and there are simple carbs, so stop confusing people, by declaring that 'all carbs' are bad for you - this is misleading. Complex carbs are the good variety of fruits, and veggies, legumes, like beans, while simple carbs are the refined flours like white bread, muffins, soda pop, cookies and French fries and all the other evil stuff. The former we benefit by, while the latter is best avoided... unless your stress levels are through the roof.
[This is an old recipe, handed down to my mom from my paternal Irish grandmother, a Newfoundlander, and finally the recipe found its way to me. It's a no-fail recipe but depending on your oven, you may not need to bake it for one hour, so use a toothpick to test its readiness; you'll know by the awesome smell filling up your kitchen and the whole house. There's also no order to mix the ingredients. I throw them all into one large bowl and use a blender.]
