Slippery Slope

I forgot how much I enjoy shushing down tree lined hills with fresh snow flakes sprinkling the air. A little bit of chatting on the chair lift, finding your own path down the mountain, gorgeous views and hours outside in nature. 

I also forgot how much I don’t enjoy skiing in pouring rain, chopping through sloshy snow and dodging sheets of ice along with out of control skiers. My wet noodle of a three year old also lacked in the desirability category despite her best efforts. 

I’ve seen bumper stickers in our area that read, “Ski The East”. The subtitle, IMHO, should be, “we brave every element”. It’s the equivalent to those 26.3 bumpers stickers. You ran a marathon? I did .1 more. You skied in Colorado? I skied in rain, sleet and snow. 

The biggest issue for me was the huge sheets of ice. Once you hit one, you’re better off riding it out than trying to turn or you’ll inevitability yard sale and pray that someone will bring your ski poles that you left halfway up the hill. 

This reminded me of how most casual dieters end up on the slippery chronic dieters slope. It starts out with good intentions like I’m going to take care of my health and stop eating sugar at breakfast. Once you open that can of worms, you take out sugar at lunch, at dinner and, of course, any snack. Things seem to be going well, you’re headed down the mountain and, heck, even picking up a little speed! You do this day after day and week after week and feel like you’re really flying now. 

Except you skid to an unexpected halt and do a proverbial face plant when you find yourself face deep in a pan of brownies or bag of chips at the end of the day. What gives? Do you try turning a new direction? Sort of. 

You think that your binge was because you were eating carbs, too. So you decide to double down and take those out of the equation, too. You’re back on that slippery slope and start picking up speed as the days pass without carbs. You’re passing everyone on your way down the hill. 

You know what happens next, don’t you? Yep, you’re suddenly out of control. Too fast, can’t turn. Crash. 

You’re back in the pan of brownies and completely flummoxed. You/ve tried cutting you’ve cut out all the “bad” foods and are ready to cross your skis in the snow to see if Ski Patrol can bail you out of your jam. 

You know what you really need?

It’s not another diet, wellness plan, lifestyle upgrade, juice or cleanse. 

You actually need to stop cutting foods out, eliminating without an actual medical diagnosis and eat ENOUGH food. 

You’ll be in control and able to enjoy your ride when you add back in vs. take things out. More on when it’s ok to eliminate foods or food groups in my upcoming book.  Teaser: you’ll be shocked to know how many people actually have celiac disease and can’t tolerate gluten.