A Double Portion of Celery Sticks by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

Life C ach

A Double Helping of Celery Sticks

Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS

Why is it always chocolate or potato chips?

OK, I misspoke. Sometimes, it’s pizza and French fries. But it’s never salad or a low-fat yogurt. I’m not saying I don’t eat those. But I don’t have crazy urges for them. I just eat that because I know it’s the responsible way to eat.

So why are the delicious stuff more caloric? Harder to resist? More delicious?

You can eat celery to your heart’s delight. In fact, you actually burn calories eating it. But the only way you burn calories from pizza is walking to the counter to order another slice.

The other day, my kid drove 40 minutes for a special brand of pizza. Tell me the last time you did that for a head of lettuce?!

What’s a human to do? Cows seem to go wild for grass. But not us – even when we opt for a salad it has so many items added into it, it might as well be an ice cream sundae. Chips and tortillas, crunchy noodles, raisins and craisins, candied pecans and sugary dressings. And then, since you feel you resisted the pasta and chose a salad instead, you feel entitled to have a dessert.

Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

As long as things are going along smoothly, you can usually stick with a diet. That is, of course, if you can actually get yourself to start one. But the minute you’re tired, depressed, locked in, or let loose in a supermarket, all bets are off. You don’t opt for cottage cheese. You’re suddenly in the nosh aisle or in the snack closet at home.

Did you ever have one of those friends with a crazy metabolism, who just couldn’t keep their weight on? I’m asking “ever,” because who would keep an aggravating friend like that? Just kidding!

But seriously, we learn to share and trade at an early age, so why can’t we lend and borrow a good metabolism every once in a while, too?! Maybe there could be a chessed fund or gemach for it.

Did you ever notice how, at a parlor meeting, so much food gets put out, yet hardly any gets touched? But suddenly, when everyone’s leaving, the foil wrap or to-go bags come out. It’s not for you, of course. It’s just to take home for your spouse or kids. Now, come on, do they really even see half of it? I think it makes it as far as your car. Then you’ve got to at least taste that pareve devil dog.

You know what’s interesting these days? People are making drive-by everything. Why isn’t a Zoom event good enough? Because then people wouldn’t get their to-go bag. That’s half the reason we celebrate. A kid gets a bris, and we get a bagel. The kid gets married, and we get a hot chocolate chip cookie to take home. So, how can we suddenly just ask people to sit and participate in an event with no culinary reward? And trust me. Once someone’s already venturing out to drive to an event it better not just be for sprouts or arugula. At a minimum, it’s gotta be a bagel or muffin!

So, what am I going on about?

Urges for our yummy food get us every time. Sure, they do make imitation or modified everything – cauliflower pizza, carob chocolate, fat-free potato snacks. And they help sometimes…

But when that compelling moment calls you and won’t let up, authentic is the only way to go. Otherwise, you may eat everything in sight until you get the urge filled anyway.

Whoops, I may have fibbed again. There is some wisdom that, if you resist, you won’t have the familiar taste to pull you down the slippery slope.

Looks like it’s your choice is to stay strong or fill that urge.

Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com.