As tradition dictates, Jason and I spent New Year’s Eve in the company of many a friend. Being invited to more New Year’s parties than we can reasonably attend has somehow become the norm for us. Is it our sparkling personalities perhaps? Or maybe our limitless charm? Could it be our unfailing humility? Who knows. The possible reasons for why we are so in demand are numerous but the result is the same regardless of the cause: a night packed with multiple events and whole lot of socializing.
As in times past, this year we spread ourselves between three parties. (We’ve decided that three gatherings are pretty much the limit to our spreading, possibly because we have shear-thickening rheological properties.) We caught up with Jason’s old Pizza Hut coworkers at Bob’s get-together, were humorously penalized for playing cards too slowly at the Rowley’s, and ate ice cream with Cam and Fran and company. We rang in 2012 right with a hefty dose of our chums, so much so that my voice was little more than a squeak by the end of the evening.
Along with celebratory parties, most people observe the New Year by coming up with a list of resolutions. I am generally opposed to these annual pledges because they typically don’t stick and, as many of you know, I never commit to anything that I don’t fully intend to follow through on. However, this year I decided to make a resolution list of one: eat more whole grains.
You see, a couple months back I underwent a series of wellness evaluations and blood tests as part of a workplace program designed to increase employee health awareness and motivate positive lifestyle changes. Not surprisingly, I am a pretty solidly healthy person. My heart is in great shape, my cholesterol and triglyceride levels are perfect, and I can do more pushups than all but one of my female coworkers. (I didn’t see that whole arm supremacy thing coming; given the flabby state of my upper limbs I bet you didn’t see it coming either.) But, although my “metabolic age” is 19 and that makes me feel all tough and fuzzy inside, my test results showed one issue: my blood sugar is higher than optimal and in the “pre-diabetic” range.
My glucose has always been a little screwy. My family has a rampant predisposition, which I too share, for experiencing hypoglycemia. I’ve learned to manage this problem better through the years by eating small meals frequently to avoid the shakes, headaches, grouchiness, and cold sweats that can hit me like a plaque. I don’t know whether this annoying condition has anything to do with my recent blood sugar reading or not but I’m not willing to risk inaction in the chance that it doesn’t.
I certainly don’t fit the profile of a syndrome X sufferer. I’m not overweight, I exercise regularly, and I eat fairly healthy. So, based on the odds, diabetes shouldn’t be something I have to contend with. However, once again, it’s not a risk I’m willing to take. Unlike the majority of Americans out there, I’m not going to wait until I have a diagnosed ailment to do something about it. Hence, I resolved to eat more whole grains this year.
Besides just being more nutritious, whole grains can be a great help to those trying to keep their blood sugar under wraps. Complex carbohydrates don’t mess with your glucose levels nearly as much as their simple sugar counterparts and they contain fiber, which has an anti-diabetic effect.
Why not totally reinvent all my eating habits and start living solely on spirulina and wheat grass? Dietary changes need to be such that you can follow them indefinitely. They need to be permanent lifestyle alterations. Anything too restrictive generally doesn’t last. I can eat more whole grains. I can substitute processed grains for their wholegrain equivalents whenever possible. That is an attainable and sustainable goal. So that is a good place to start.
Thus, I have revealed my New Year’s resolution to the world and now there is no going back. You, the fine people of the World-Wide Web, are my witnesses that this goal is a go. I get my blood sugar tested again in six months and we shall see just how much of an impact my modified eating habits have on my health.
To the parties and preventative measures of 2012!