Blog Dis
Denial is pain
2025-06-17
To deny one self is to acknowledge that the body, mind and spirit should and can do without. It isn't an easy road to follow, the path of denial, but this barren, dark and dusty road has its benefits.
Last week I planned my vacation days for the summer, and this means that soon I'll be nearing some much needed time off, well if you count a few days off here and there, tucked in between statutory holidays — all adding up to a mix of three or four-day weekends plus one full week off. I'll take it. I need it. My body needs it. My brain needs it. In the past, there've been some vacations that when finally over, I stepped back onto the scale, just out of curiosity, and looked in horror at how I had packed on six pounds, seemingly a mystery, all the while knowing I was in fact eating like a sumo wrestler, without any regard for watching my waistline.
Our waistline doesn't watch itself, so this means we're responsible for behaving in a responsible fashion, for the most part. Or, alternatively, you can plan a walking vacation, hiking, biking which means you'll be moving even more than before leaving on vacation, and this will help to ensure that you can continue to indulge while still dropping some pounds. You'll still need to work at it, to maintain the brisk pace, though, and this means you'll have to deny any discomfort your body may be feeling.
Six unwanted pounds is like adding an extra layer of belly fat around my mid-section. Admittedly, and when on stay-vacation, I deny myself little and once the time off away from work has worn out its welcome, purging these unwanted pounds thru denial appears to be the best method to pretend that it never happened in the first place. Only healthy salads and small portions will be consumed, until such time that I'm back at my optimum weight. But wait, I already eat salads seven days a week. So this means for me denial is a river in Egypt where the bags of Doritos are tossed into the murky water untouched for the crocodiles to gorge on and fight over.
Vacations are not supposed to be about denial. When we have the opportunity to step away from our regular routine, and more specifically our lives, we need to take full advantage of this unhinged self to explore the alter ego. Truth be told, my alter ego wants to be a happy lassie who indulges in all things unhealthy. On the plus side, denial is a fabulous means of testing your will power, particularly if you know a fresh bar of dark 70% chocolate sits idle in the fridge waiting to be devoured. I won't touch so much as one sliver. Like the reformed alcoholics who've not sipped a drop of booze in years, they've trained their brain and resistance to be able to sit amongst happy drinkers without feeling the need to imbibe. With that thought in mind, I shall do the same with chocolate, after my vacation has ended... potentially I'll resist chocolate, though I can't place bets on this wager. It'll be tough. It'll be arduous. There'll be moments when I'll succumb to my temptations but I shan't... maybe. 😅
The full effects of denial can only be experienced by truly denying yourself.
Many years past, while traveling in Scotland and Ireland, I met a lovely elderly woman who argued in my defence of being left alone to smoke (back in the days when I puffed ciggies - aka cancer sticks, like another lifetime ago) and she made a spectacular point to the complainer about my cigarette smoke: Why should this woman be denied? If my smoke bothered them, she advised that they should remove themselves from the situation and just deal with it. I was thoroughly impressed with her resolute attitude. It made me realize that others will be quick to deny you things that they themselves would forgo, but denying yourself the very thing you want is in fact much harder.
I have no crowd waving a disapproving finger at me or an elderly woman standing up for me. I just have my weight scale, my resolve and ultimately my desire to exercise a little control, until such time that I shut off the denial switch and get back to a more reasonable viewpoint on life that allows indulgence in moderation.
Vacations are not about denial, to be sure. Regular life is about setting and keeping limits. This is probably why I love to travel so much, or why I can take a week off for vacation and feel like a queen. Ta-Da! And speaking of the destroyers of denial...
Doritos clearly has no conscience. This well-known brand releases 'special' flavours year after year, only offering them for a limited-time, yet another brilliant ploy to weaken my resolve. To use an expression that I picked up from my editor... the bastids. However, I tip my hat to them for scouring the world for flavours. Their latest, Golden Sriracha, is a blend of sriracha with banana peppers. Sriracha originated in Thailand and it combines chili peppers, distilled vinegar and pickled garlic and salt. The first bite is mighty tasty, until the heat curls the tip of your tongue, leaving you no option but to make the emotional commitment to forge on and enjoy.
As I was saying earlier... the bastids. 😆
Last week I planned my vacation days for the summer, and this means that soon I'll be nearing some much needed time off, well if you count a few days off here and there, tucked in between statutory holidays — all adding up to a mix of three or four-day weekends plus one full week off. I'll take it. I need it. My body needs it. My brain needs it. In the past, there've been some vacations that when finally over, I stepped back onto the scale, just out of curiosity, and looked in horror at how I had packed on six pounds, seemingly a mystery, all the while knowing I was in fact eating like a sumo wrestler, without any regard for watching my waistline.
Our waistline doesn't watch itself, so this means we're responsible for behaving in a responsible fashion, for the most part. Or, alternatively, you can plan a walking vacation, hiking, biking which means you'll be moving even more than before leaving on vacation, and this will help to ensure that you can continue to indulge while still dropping some pounds. You'll still need to work at it, to maintain the brisk pace, though, and this means you'll have to deny any discomfort your body may be feeling.
Six unwanted pounds is like adding an extra layer of belly fat around my mid-section. Admittedly, and when on stay-vacation, I deny myself little and once the time off away from work has worn out its welcome, purging these unwanted pounds thru denial appears to be the best method to pretend that it never happened in the first place. Only healthy salads and small portions will be consumed, until such time that I'm back at my optimum weight. But wait, I already eat salads seven days a week. So this means for me denial is a river in Egypt where the bags of Doritos are tossed into the murky water untouched for the crocodiles to gorge on and fight over.
Vacations are not supposed to be about denial. When we have the opportunity to step away from our regular routine, and more specifically our lives, we need to take full advantage of this unhinged self to explore the alter ego. Truth be told, my alter ego wants to be a happy lassie who indulges in all things unhealthy. On the plus side, denial is a fabulous means of testing your will power, particularly if you know a fresh bar of dark 70% chocolate sits idle in the fridge waiting to be devoured. I won't touch so much as one sliver. Like the reformed alcoholics who've not sipped a drop of booze in years, they've trained their brain and resistance to be able to sit amongst happy drinkers without feeling the need to imbibe. With that thought in mind, I shall do the same with chocolate, after my vacation has ended... potentially I'll resist chocolate, though I can't place bets on this wager. It'll be tough. It'll be arduous. There'll be moments when I'll succumb to my temptations but I shan't... maybe. 😅
The full effects of denial can only be experienced by truly denying yourself.
Many years past, while traveling in Scotland and Ireland, I met a lovely elderly woman who argued in my defence of being left alone to smoke (back in the days when I puffed ciggies - aka cancer sticks, like another lifetime ago) and she made a spectacular point to the complainer about my cigarette smoke: Why should this woman be denied? If my smoke bothered them, she advised that they should remove themselves from the situation and just deal with it. I was thoroughly impressed with her resolute attitude. It made me realize that others will be quick to deny you things that they themselves would forgo, but denying yourself the very thing you want is in fact much harder.
I have no crowd waving a disapproving finger at me or an elderly woman standing up for me. I just have my weight scale, my resolve and ultimately my desire to exercise a little control, until such time that I shut off the denial switch and get back to a more reasonable viewpoint on life that allows indulgence in moderation.
Vacations are not about denial, to be sure. Regular life is about setting and keeping limits. This is probably why I love to travel so much, or why I can take a week off for vacation and feel like a queen. Ta-Da! And speaking of the destroyers of denial...
Doritos clearly has no conscience. This well-known brand releases 'special' flavours year after year, only offering them for a limited-time, yet another brilliant ploy to weaken my resolve. To use an expression that I picked up from my editor... the bastids. However, I tip my hat to them for scouring the world for flavours. Their latest, Golden Sriracha, is a blend of sriracha with banana peppers. Sriracha originated in Thailand and it combines chili peppers, distilled vinegar and pickled garlic and salt. The first bite is mighty tasty, until the heat curls the tip of your tongue, leaving you no option but to make the emotional commitment to forge on and enjoy.
As I was saying earlier... the bastids. 😆
