fitover50

I don’t belong to a 12-step program, but perhaps I should. No, I’m not addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, cigarettes or soap operas. But, truth be told, I would have to say I’m addicted to chocolate. I know, I know, it’s harmless enough. And, according to current studies on the topic, my all time favorite, dark chocolate, is being praised as a nutritional powerhouse superfood. I know I believe that’s true.

I view chocolate as a “mental health” food. I find it soothing, relaxing and extremely pleasureable to my taste buds. Seems to fit the definition of addiction to me.

I wonder if any of us can claim to be totally addiction-free, if we honestly look at everything that word encompasses. Is there anyone who doesn’t seek out, desire and react in an obsessive way to some animal, vegetable or mineral in the world around them.

If you feel there is absolutely nothing to which you are addicted, or if you want to confess your own personal addiction, drop an e-mail and share. Right now I’m going to go find a 72% cacao chocolate bar to feed the beast of addiction that has taken over my body and mind.

I was something of a picky eater as a child. My mother did little to indulge this immature behavior. Basically, I could eat with the rest of the family or I could enjoy my butter bread and, if I was lucky, tomato soup, at my place at the table.

It didn’t take long for me to become a reasonably cooperative eater. Still, there were some foods I managed to avoid for far too long, much to my eventual regret.

One food that I managed to bypass until I was about 35 or 36 years old was bell peppers. The day I succumbed, it was against my better judgement. I had arrived, half starved, at a buffet pizza bar, and the only pizza available at just that moment was one with green pepper and onion.

I considered eating at the moment to be a matter of life of death. I chowed down on the green pepper and onion pizza and it was, quite literally, “love at first bite.”

I have been spending the years since trying to make up for my decades of denial.

The important lesson I learned so late was how important it is to try new foods before passing judgement.

What foods in your life have you found to taste far better than you ever expected?

Mindless eating is a curse we all must contend with. We know we shouldn’t just prop ourselves up in front of the television with a bowl of snacks and munch to our hearts content. We know we should monitor the quality and the quantity of snack foods in our homes. We have some control here. If we don’t put it in front of ourselves, we know we should be able to avoid it.

We may be in deep quicksand at the office, however. Most of us, if we work in an office with more than just one or two other people, know that there is guaranteed to be someone, somewhere, with a candy dish. And, yes, if you’re the guilty party, I’m pointing the finger at you.

It might be restless eating. It might be brought on by boredom, or stress. But, it is oh so easy to walk past that candy dish and grab a Tootsie Roll on the way to the copy machine. Miniature candy bars? How bad can just one be? Oh, okay, I had one this morning, but it’s afternoon now - I’ll work this one off.

And so it goes. I’m guilty. I’ve been guilty in the past. I will probably be guilty tomorrow if the opportunity presents itself.

As with so many other things in my life, I could get away with it twenty years ago. Heck, I could get away with it five years ago. Today, I know the difference. I know the error of my ways. I know better.

Does that make me better? Not always.

What I’m asking of you is for some ideas on how to put that better knowledge into practice. How do you avoid the office candy dish? Drop an e-mail. I’m hanging on by a thread. . .

In my youth I would eat pretty much anything that appealed to me. I never was an overeater and with youth and a high energy level on my side, my eating habits did not adversely affect my weight or my health. But, with age comes wisdom - and a better appreciation for just how detrimental a slice of cheesecake can be when eaten on top of a hot turkey sandwich complete with spinach, bacon and a deadly cream sauce.

Slowly, over the years, I have eliminated entire categories of, basically non-essential, foods from my life. I stopped eating the office donuts about five or six years ago - haven’t had one since. I gave up a particularly addictive brand of potato chip that used to take possession of my self-control with about the same overwhelming force as heroin does to an addict. I’ve been “clean” from that demon for about two decades. I pass by the bagels, the large soft pretzels and the assorted nuts that come around during the holidays.

I still have my vices, have no fear about that. Actually, I’m starting to think I should take a good hard look at some of my other little indulgences and make a few more cuts from the program. It’s sad to consider. I admit to being a chocoholic. And, to paraphrase Charlton Heston when he talked about his constitutional right to bear arms, “You will get my chocolate bar when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.”

What trade-offs have you made when it comes to what you will or won’t eat for the sake of your health and weight? How has that changed since you passed the big “5-0?”

From time to time I may make reference to my “stuff.” I like my stuff. I like to keep it. I like to look at it. Okay, maybe I like to hoard it. I attribute this to my parents who scraped through the early years of their lives during the Great Depression and never forgot the lessons they learned about scarcity and the importance of not being wasteful. They taught me well.

But, here is my question to you. I love recipes. I collect (hoard?) recipe books, subscribe to and store in binders (hoard?) seven different magazines devoted to cooking and recipes and have an entire software program (Mastercook Deluxe) devoted to storing (hoarding?) my favorite recipes in cyberspace. I will not live long enough to try 5% of the recipes I now possess, let alone the future recipes that will come my way to be stored and collected (hoarded?). Oh, I do experiment in my kitchen. It’s my favorite pastime. I’ve produced some great meals. I’ve produced some food concoctions that will never see the light of day. I’m okay with that.

What worries me is that I may have reached the definition of “Obsessive/Compulsive” with my love of recipes. What do you think? At what point will I have gone too far?

Drop an e-mail and let me know what you think.

Guess I’m not the only one out there with a bad habit or two to battle. A couple of good suggestions have come in for fighting off the evening munchies.

1) Set time limits. No snacking for three or four hours before bedtime.

2) Make any evening snacks yogurt or fruit. (Guess that means stay away from the refined sugar. . .)

3) Exercise to combat the effects.

I have a friend who, right now, is good at talking the talk, but she can’t seem to get it together to walk the walk. She would like to change some of her bad eating habits (chocolate muffins for coffee break, snacks at her desk . . .) but she is allowing the everyday stress and strain of life to push her into eating more and exercising less.

Instead of helping her, I feel that she is pulling me into some bad habits. I have to fight the mindset that “one little brownie won’t hurt” or “I’ll do better tomorrow.” I know none of us are perfect, but I need to be better than I am.

My exercise routine is holding up right now, so that’s good. In fact, tonight I plan to add a couple minutes to my elliptical workout duration. The treadmill is going strong as well. If I could just add a little free weight routine I would feel pretty good about it all.

Any simple free weight exercises to recommend?

I haven’t always been a saint with every aspect of eating well, exercising properly, and doing what was necessary to lead a happy, healthy and long life. Okay, I’ve never been a saint regarding those things, but we’re just spliting hairs here.

I have a few bad habits. Most of them didn’t seem to matter too much - until lately. Being Fit Over 50 means that I have to start paying attention to my previously evil ways and remedy them before it’s too late. For example, I never thought too much about how late into the evening I might be snacking. Eight o’clock, nine o’clock, later . . . it didn’t seem to affect me before. Now, I’m not so sure. The body, as I have said, seems a little softer now. The firmness of youth and early adulthood is fading.

I suspect I’m not helping matters any by eating later at night. My body is in the cool down stage by then and none of these new calories have anywhere to go except directly to my thighs.

Awareness is always the first step to making changes. I’m open to any suggestions out there for how I can un-learn my bad habit.

Drop an e-mail with either a suggestion to help me or, even, a bad habit of your own that you either have found a solution to or are looking for a solution to help fix. Bad Habits I Have Known will be there for you.