A mother who steals her kids' chocolate feels unable to stop herself eating. Mariella Frostrup says she needs to put herself out of temptation's way
The dilemma I am 45 next week,
married with three children, nice house, part-time job, but life is
dominated, rather embarrassingly, by… diet. I am no idiot, yet stealing
my kids' chocolate,
eating in secret, defining good and bad days by the amount I have eaten
is the norm. So boring, so superficial – I am not vain, believe me,
but I'm 2st overweight and it rules my life – help!
Jump to comments (145)
Source: The Guardian/Observer, Sunday 20 October 2013
Mariella replies How very Bridget Jones of you! You're definitely not the only one being tempted. This whole confectionery business is out of control. Every time I buy a newspaper or a pint of milk I have to battle off a cashier styled on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's child-catcher or Mr Creosote's waiter. No, I don't want 40% extra Bounty for the price of last year's less gargantuan bar. The only place that added value is going is my waistline.
Chocolate bars have never been bigger, cheaper, free with the daily news or just small change away from your drooling mouth. With the government taxing anything they think they can get away with, it's curious that confectionery has yet to catch the chancellor's beady eye as being ripe for a slice of new revenue. Or could it be that we are now such big babies that denying us our sweeties is the only political act that would guarantee a revolution?
No sooner has big business been warned off selling us one product that might kill us than they find an alternative to seduce us with. I wonder if Philip Morris has any cocoa-bean plantations yet. The net result of sating our sugar habits will certainly help to ensure tooth decay, obesity and bad health. Yet still we flock, as ridiculous as volunteers for a cut-price beheading, eager to exchange our hard-earned cash for a blast of cheap chocolate. A dentist friend told me the other day that for the first time in his long career he was having to perform root-canal treatment on five- and six-year-olds whose baby teeth were rotting faster than they could grow adult ones. It's a salutary illustration of the horror of plenty.
While in large parts of our world other people's children are dying of malnutrition, back home we're stuffing our own with crap. My children learn about the charity Mary's Meals (marysmeals.org.uk), which provides school meals to children in the developing world, while all around them are enticingly cheap treats dressed up as an "energy boost". Meanwhile there isn't a household name in the confectionery business that hasn't increased the size of its product to suit an imaginary species of giant yet to walk our planet. There's so much sugar in food they're virtually giving it away. What enormous profit margins they must already be enjoying if they can afford to be so generous.
So, first and foremost, on behalf of your kids, I recommend you stop buying the stuff. You're clearly not doing your family any favours, and you yourself are struggling to resist. Purge the house and let your children enjoy a once-weekly treat, bought with their own pocket money. I recently emptied an entire kitchen cupboard of the rubbish I'd squirrelled away or confiscated over the summer holidays. It was truly a cathartic experience, although the kids are now Googling adoption agencies.
Middle age is as fecund a time as our teenage years for picking up vices. For many of us there's a yawning space to fill – the void that comprises all the things we thought we would have done or should be doing at this stage in our lives – and these are one way to deflect attention from it. For some, it's too much wine; in your case, it looks like chocolate. Removing temptation at home will see you briefly cast as a domestic she-devil but will reap dividends for all.
A trip to a hypnotist might help harden your resolve to quit. Also, how about putting the money you save on chocolate towards a less self-destructive "treat" – the gym, yoga classes? Exercise is important, as our bodies start to slump and stiffen. It may not be enticing as a pastime, but one benefit of adding physical activity to your day is that a little of what you fancy can be an acceptable reward.
If you have a dilemma, send a brief email to mariella.frostrup@observer.co.uk. Follow Mariella on Twitter @mariellaf1
Jump to comments (145)
Source: The Guardian/Observer, Sunday 20 October 2013
Mariella replies How very Bridget Jones of you! You're definitely not the only one being tempted. This whole confectionery business is out of control. Every time I buy a newspaper or a pint of milk I have to battle off a cashier styled on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's child-catcher or Mr Creosote's waiter. No, I don't want 40% extra Bounty for the price of last year's less gargantuan bar. The only place that added value is going is my waistline.
Chocolate bars have never been bigger, cheaper, free with the daily news or just small change away from your drooling mouth. With the government taxing anything they think they can get away with, it's curious that confectionery has yet to catch the chancellor's beady eye as being ripe for a slice of new revenue. Or could it be that we are now such big babies that denying us our sweeties is the only political act that would guarantee a revolution?
No sooner has big business been warned off selling us one product that might kill us than they find an alternative to seduce us with. I wonder if Philip Morris has any cocoa-bean plantations yet. The net result of sating our sugar habits will certainly help to ensure tooth decay, obesity and bad health. Yet still we flock, as ridiculous as volunteers for a cut-price beheading, eager to exchange our hard-earned cash for a blast of cheap chocolate. A dentist friend told me the other day that for the first time in his long career he was having to perform root-canal treatment on five- and six-year-olds whose baby teeth were rotting faster than they could grow adult ones. It's a salutary illustration of the horror of plenty.
While in large parts of our world other people's children are dying of malnutrition, back home we're stuffing our own with crap. My children learn about the charity Mary's Meals (marysmeals.org.uk), which provides school meals to children in the developing world, while all around them are enticingly cheap treats dressed up as an "energy boost". Meanwhile there isn't a household name in the confectionery business that hasn't increased the size of its product to suit an imaginary species of giant yet to walk our planet. There's so much sugar in food they're virtually giving it away. What enormous profit margins they must already be enjoying if they can afford to be so generous.
So, first and foremost, on behalf of your kids, I recommend you stop buying the stuff. You're clearly not doing your family any favours, and you yourself are struggling to resist. Purge the house and let your children enjoy a once-weekly treat, bought with their own pocket money. I recently emptied an entire kitchen cupboard of the rubbish I'd squirrelled away or confiscated over the summer holidays. It was truly a cathartic experience, although the kids are now Googling adoption agencies.
Middle age is as fecund a time as our teenage years for picking up vices. For many of us there's a yawning space to fill – the void that comprises all the things we thought we would have done or should be doing at this stage in our lives – and these are one way to deflect attention from it. For some, it's too much wine; in your case, it looks like chocolate. Removing temptation at home will see you briefly cast as a domestic she-devil but will reap dividends for all.
A trip to a hypnotist might help harden your resolve to quit. Also, how about putting the money you save on chocolate towards a less self-destructive "treat" – the gym, yoga classes? Exercise is important, as our bodies start to slump and stiffen. It may not be enticing as a pastime, but one benefit of adding physical activity to your day is that a little of what you fancy can be an acceptable reward.
If you have a dilemma, send a brief email to mariella.frostrup@observer.co.uk. Follow Mariella on Twitter @mariellaf1
2 comments:
HELLO M JOSE!!!!!!!!!!!
I´M REALLY HAPPY BECAUSE YOU ARE AGAIN WITH US THIS YEAR, AND FOR ME THIS IS VERY GOOD.
YHANKSSSSSSSSSSSSSS ALWAYS.
ALEXIA from Caceres
I hope you are doing fine, Alexia and can keep studying English.
All the best,
M.ª José
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