What's Good for the Goose...

I am staring  at the broccoli, green salad and vegetable medley on my plate (all of which I like) and the thought occurred to me, "How come I don't crave vegetables?"  Think about it... most of us like at least some vegetables and we know how to make them tasty and appetizing, but the reality is that the food that is not that good for our bodies is what we crave the most.

My particular leaning is towards chocolate and Diet Dr. Pepper (Regular is too sweet) with lots of ice. My husband craves salty things like potato chips or homemade fries.

Sometimes I yearn for a great grilled steak or in the summer, sweet watermelon.  I have yet to have my mouth water over spinach greens or have a late night snack attack for carrot sticks. But vegetables are low in carbohydrates, rich in vitamins and immensely good for our bodies.

 A diabetic usually has to watch their carbohydrate intake in order to control their blood sugar levels.  Blood sugar levels rise  when carbohydrate intake is high.  Excess insulin is released to counteract the increase in blood sugar so now the diabetic has a problem because their body doesn't handle the excesses well.
My obese mother became a diabetic when she and my Dad came to live with me and mom had several strokes.  I had to learn how to cook and feed her to keep the diabetes under control.  I had to 'count' carbohydrates for her meals & snacks and restrict her intake of them.  Per serving: Meat =0 carbohydrates, Vegetables =5, Dairy= 12, Fruit =15, Breads, grains, pasta, rice, legumes & starchy vegetables (like potatoes, corn & peas) = 15.

In other words, meat & vegetables had to make up most of the meal and small amounts of the other to keep it balanced.  Mom lost 100 lbs in one year.  She went from 280 lbs to 180 lbs.  Of course that was because she used a wheelchair or a walker.  Hard to sneak into the kitchen for chocolate chip cookie theft when someone else has to lift you from your chair.

My Dad used to sit at his desk and hide a Symphony chocolate bar where mom couldn't see it from her lazyboy chair.  Mom may have lost some use of her limbs, but her hearing was excellent.  She could hear that foil wrapper peel slowly away from the chocolate as Dad tried to quietly sneak a taste.  She would quickly ask him what he had hiding over there and to come give her a piece.  He had given in to her too many times and suffered my worried scolding so he learned to pretend his hearing aid was off.

I have pretty good use of my appendages and those darn digits reach for chocolate  when the craving comes on.  So I look at those vegetables and sigh.  They're okay and I will eat them because I know I need them, but  I wish they tasted like Lindor Truffles.