Strawberry Hamentasch by psgreen01, on Flickr
I love Purim. I really do. I love the costumes, the celebrations, the insanely bloodthirsty story. I love making Mishloach Manot for our friends. I love coming home from shul, arms full of the Mishloach Manot our friends give us. But that’s where my problem begins.
My name is Hadass and I am a sugar and gluten addict. I know everything I need to know about the bad things that sugar and gluten do to me. Aside from a taste of challah on Friday night, I haven’t eaten bread since 2009. I generally avoid grain products like the plague and follow the SCD quite religiously. And yet, if there’s a hamentasch in the house, I’m a goner.
It’s funny – we have chocolate chip cookies in the house year-round, and I don’t have a problem with them. I can pack a sweet treat into my kids’ lunch kits and not take a percentage (usually). But there’s just something about Purim treats that drives everything out of my head. I know the suffering that is sure to follow, and I don’t care. I don’t have this problem with Hannukah or even Pesach. Just Purim.
Are there holidays like that in your life? What do you do to avoid damaging yourself?
LOL, Holly, I shouldn’t have taught you all my coaching secrets ;-).
Fortunately I’m in better shape, inflammation-wise, than I was when I originally wrote this post two years ago. So it isn’t quite agony, but it is still not compatible with my goals.
So yeah, Purim treats make me think about how my ancestors didn’t have to worry about autoimmunity … and how unfair that is. Have another hamentasch.
Seriously, though, I’m trying to set things up so I can enjoy the Purim treats a little bit without overdoing it and causing myself trouble … trying to have them not be trigger foods for me. Eating enough healthy foods so I’m not hungry and getting enough exercise so I’m feeling pretty happy are high on the list of preventative measures.
Thanks for the response!
Hadass Eviatar recently posted…Twelve Years an Orphan
What thoughts do you have about that, Hadass? Why, do you think, knowing the agony that ensues, do you ‘not care’? What do Purim treats make you think of? How do you feel about that?
Holly Jahangiri recently posted…Wishing You a Bright, Colorful Holi – Wherever You Are!
Truth is, we all do some things we shouldn’t but the truth is, eat right, exercise (and all that) and die anyway. And I’m a sucker for some sweets as well. I know what it’ll cost me but some times you just have to say “Why Not?” so the wheat will make me grumpy and all that…
Yes, we will die anyway but the plan is to stick around with loved ones as long as possible. Thanks for the perspective, James!
make your own
The problem isn’t what I make, it’s what I’m given. I hate to sound ungrateful, but there it is.