[CHANGES] Quick note & LOVE-FEST ENDS TODAY message

[Sandra Ahten]

QUICK NOTE: If you are interested in Art Classes please register this week, 
as I leave on a ski vacation next Sunday and classes begin right after I 
return. (week of Jan 12) I am so excited about going sking. We are taking 
the train to Winter Park CO and spending four days sking. Yipee! You can see 
my art class schedule at my website. www.spiritofsandra.com


THE LOVE FEST ENDS TODAY
Cheryl tells us of her Louisiana Christmas traditions with a slight longing. 
She her husband Joseph and their two girls opted for a low key Christmas and 
so did not travel to the land of her roots. She seemed happy with the 
decision but still torn. After dinner she serves us a home made biscotti 
dipped in chocolate and says she couldn’t have made them if she went home. 
She doesn’t get in the kitchen down there, because both her parents are 
reported to be amazing cooks. And she says “It is a big part of how they 
show love to us.”

Of course it is a way that we demonstrate our love for each other. And this 
is never more evident than at the Holidays. From the peanut butter pie to 
the jello salad, families honor their own traditions for the love fest.

Well guess what? The love fest is over. I feel loved. I had a delicious 
Holiday season in more ways than one. But it is time for the love fest to 
end. It is one thing to have a spoonful of dressing with the turkey, it’s 
another to have a second spoonful of dressing before dessert, it is a whole 
‘nuther thing to be sitting alone in my kitchen contemplating “finishing 
off” the dressing for breakfast on the Monday morning four days after 
Christmas.

I didn’t have the dressing for breakfast -  because the love fest is over. 
I, instead, retrieved the low point cereal from the furthest reaches of my 
cabinet; unearthed my food scale; measured the cereal, measured a half a cup 
of skim milk and proceeded to have my breakfast.  I then got out the 
tablespoon and measured the cream for my coffee.

AM I STRUGGLING?
Scientists say that through millions of years our genes have adapted so that 
we can take advantage of every calorie. We crave food and want to eat fat 
and sugar in what ever quantity is available so that it can carry us through 
the lean times, which are just around the corner. This trait that saved our 
ancestors from starvation is our battle with obesity and overeating. This is 
not a one size fits all explanation. But it helps me to understand that 
living in America, the land of plenty, the land of abundance, the land of 
over-indulgence -- with the genes of our ancestors --  is for me, going to 
require that I force good eating habits and not honor what may be my genetic 
pre-disposition.

Indeed, I feel loved and comforted by food. I love all the rituals of 
holiday eating. Frankly, I love foods that are laden in sugar and fat. But I 
love myself more. I value my mind. I am grateful that I have free will. I 
want a beautiful healthy strong body and I want it to have lots of energy to 
get me where I want to go. So today, you don’t need to have sympathy for me. 
If this is my struggle  - so be it. I’m certainly not alone. I’m just doing 
what I do. Grappling with all that comes with being human. And today I’m 
proud of my choices. I have no regret for yesterday. I have no worry for 
tomorrow.
My best to you as you make your decision for today.
Sandra

© 2003 by Sandra Ahten. All rights reserved

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Working moms: Find helpful tips here on managing kids, home, work —  and 
yourself.   http://special.msn.com/msnbc/workingmom.armx