Hidden benefits

Holidays are all about food, aren't they? At least, that's what my family thinks. We like to celebrate with meals. Thanksgiving means a groaning table that could probably feed a hungry family for a couple of weeks. Seriously. My grandmother, two aunts, mother, and now me, all think as we're cooking our respective dishes that there just might not be enough. It's not one pan of dressing, it's two. We have three or four big bowls of different salads. Of course a giant turkey, plus a ham. And then there are sides, usually six or seven of those. And I would never, never forget the dessert. How could I, when it is a spread to dazzle the eye? A couple of cakes, three or four pies, maybe a cheesecake, and other stuff. Needless to say, we usually just lie around and groan for a couple of hours afterward.

We like food at other holidays too. Christmas means baking, Valentine's equals chocolate, Easter calls for a big family dinner with such dishes as macaroni and cheese (something with cheese, definitely), July 4th, we have to grill out, and birthdays mean birthday cake! I have definitely had my share of tight pants following the holidays. However, this year has been an anomaly in my life. Following the allergen free diet (for Daniel's sake) pretty much eliminated all fattening foods from the menu. Thanksgiving dinner was meat, potatoes, and veggies, just as most of are meals are these days. Christmas Eve dinner was (you guessed it), meat, potatoes, and veggies. As for dessert, I didn't have anything. Not even the delicious cherry sorbet that is one of the few desserts containing no allergens. I decided since I was already having a rather austere holiday spread, I would give up all sugar, which is something I'm always trying to do. I have a terrible sweet tooth, but eating sugar makes me feel terrible. I felt like my body needed a break from refined sugar. Apart from the actually week of Christmas, when some maple sugar and cherry sorbet did enter my mouth, I have not eaten sugar since before Thanksgiving.

So knowing that I was not indulging myself, although I certainly didn't count calories or limit food consumption of acceptable foods (for allergy purposes), maybe you won't hate me when I say that I was maybe the only person who lost weight (six pounds to be exact) over the holidays. I didn't work at it, I didn't agonize, I just did what I needed to do for my little Daniel, with the happy side effect of surpassing my post-Nathan weight loss. I'm only about two pounds heavier than I was on my wedding day (the thinnest I have ever been, mainly due to the stress of trying to graduate and plan a wedding three weeks after graduation day), although I still can't fit into some of my snuggest pants. Pregnancy just made me mushier, especially those three inches right below my belly button. But other than the post-preggy mush, I'm fitter than ever. It's been three months since we cut out all the allergy-provoking foods, and the diet, while difficult, has not been without benefits. So thank you allergy diet for making me thin again!