Andy Lien

In my metformin 1000 mg pill many years of dieting, I often think in black and white.  That’s not a good way to approach anything–let alone food.  An example of this is my Advent Calendar.  Advent Calendars are a fun tradition that–on each of the 24 days prior to Christmas Day–a little treasure is found by the recipient of the Calendar’s booty.  When I was young, my aunt and uncle sent one to my brother and me from Germany for Christmas and it was such a cherished item.  Each day, we’d both gather around it and open the little cardboard door for that day to find the treasure…always chocolate.  A small piece of chocolate was a large treat for us.  It didn’t flow as freely then as it seems to now.  So, we had to split the small piece of chocolate.  And we did. Happily.

I was at Trader Joe’s back around Thanksgiving and I saw that they were selling Advent Calendars for $.99 each.  Wow.  Memories of my childhood whooshed back and I grabbed one without hesitation.

I was going to have my own Advent Calendar.

I wasn’t going to have to share my chocolate pieces with anyone.  They were already tiny–no need to make them miniscule.

As my brain would have it, I completely twisted around the term “tiny” when it came time to start this diet.  Suddenly, I eyed the Advent Calendar with suspicion.  I pondered throwing it out. It was–after all–chocolate.  Chocolate is a no-no on a diet.  It could, in fact, not only bring about the entire downfall of my diet but also all of Western Civilization.

Really.  I labeled it “bad,” and it was dead to me.

Then, I thought about it.  Andy: You’re trying to stop making weight loss into a head game.  Food is food.  Calories are calories.  To attach a label to chocolate is to make it into more than calories.  It’s to turn it from being a simple decision to make…to being a symbol of success or failure. 

So, I did what I should’ve done at the very beginning.  I looked at the Nutritional Information.

You know how it’s easy to turn the unknown into a bigger issue than it is?  I mean, this chocolate…in my head it was the chocolate with the highest fat content ever.  To look at it was to break the scale.

I turned over the box and braced myself.  The Nutritional Information quite clearly said that a serving was 270 calories.  Whoa.  270 calories per serving.  That’s getting pretty close to a serving of Ben & Jerry’s.  That’s no good.

How big was a serving of Advent Calendar chocolate?

24 pieces.

Sigh.

See?

It’s all about perspective. 

I popped my last 12-calorie piece of Advent chocolate in my mouth this morning and smiled…happy that I didn’t have to share even 1/24 of my serving with my brother.