75 Calories

Per day.

Yep, that's the recommended amount of calories one should take in via "sweets" according to the Mayo Clinic Weight Management guide I am currently reading. 

My health insurance company gives us the opportunity to earn "wellness dollars" for an account to help defray medical expenses, and to earn them I can jump through various hoops including health assessments, lifestyle coaching, and other as sundry items.

For the second year in a row, I have a coach to "help" me along with things.  I had several options when it came to the area of life I wanted to be coached on this year.  Last year, I chose weight loss because I was in the midst of trying to drop quite a few pounds.  Since I succeeded in losing the weight last year, I chose weight management so that I could maintain my weight loss and continue to exercise and keep in some semblance of health.

My coach was nice enough, and she asked me if I wanted to receive the Mayo Clinic Weight Management guide.  I graciously accepted and began working my way through it.

It's full of all sorts of helpful information about exercise, calorie counts, and of course what to eat and what not to eat. 

That's where the Mayo Clinic food pyramid makes its appearance.  Eat all the fruits and vegetables you want.  Slow down on the carbs.  Just a smidgen of meat, and only 75 calories of sweets.

WT....um...H?

75 friggin' calories for sweets?

Four M&M's?

Not even a spoonful of ice cream?

Oh, and get this, my good German friends, alcohol counts for sweets.  You can't even drink a bottle of beer a day.  Well, I guess there are one or two very, very light beers you could drink, but you are limited to only one.  And don't even bother having a piece of cake or a cookie with it.  You're over the limit, buddy.

75 calories for sweets.

Are you kidding me?

What a stupid limitation.

Well, at least according to me.

I love sweets.  I've got a sweet tooth to beat the band.  I love empty calories.  They taste really, really good.

And I'm not going to limit myself to 75 of them per day.

I'm just not going to do it.

I'll exercise a little more if I need it, but I'm going to enjoy some of life's simple pleasures.

Eating sugar isn't a sin as far as I can read from Scripture.  Overindulgence, now, I can make a case for that.

But, who really wants to go through life limiting themselves to only 75 calories of sweets a day?  Who really wants to become that ascetic?  (For my readers who have no idea what that word means: it means living in a constant state of self-denial of things pleasurable.)  Aren't there a few things in life worth enjoying?  Chocolate, for instance?

I'm sure one or two health experts might like to take me to task, but believe me, all your scientific knowledge is not going to convince me to eat one small slice of angel food cake per day.

And you theologians who want to argue that my body is the temple of God and that I should want to take care of it and maintain it and keep it in as pristine shape as possible, I will argue that a temple is made to be used as well.  Most "temples" have ornamentation and other such "fluff" within them to enhance their beauty.  Kind of like how sweets enhances living life.

Now, you need to know.  I haven't had a full sized or a king sized candy bar in about 2 years.  I limit myself to a few snacks a day.  If you throw in a soda every other day or so, I'm probably around 300 to 350 calories a day with sweet stuff.  A major faux pax?  Maybe according to some, but I've maintained 210 lbs for seven months with only a slight gain during the holidays.  I think my body is handling it well.

My taste buds certainly are.

And I won't be denying them.

Sue me.