“BAKIT ba ganyan/Ang ibig ko’y lagi kang pagmasdan?/Umula’t umaraw ay hindi pagsasawaan/Ang iyong katangian/Damdamin ko’y ibang-iba kapag kapiling ka, sinta.” And that’s heartily dedicated to the yummy biko.
No, not Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto. Biko as in the kakanin.
Months ago, it was halo-halo. Weeks ago, it was bilo-bilo. Last week, it was ube hopia. Now it’s biko. My constant craving, that is.
The low-carb diet has taught me that eating carbs can result to diseases and illnesses.
Still, people will eat carbs because they’re yummy. Much like how smokers continue to smoke despite the graphic images on cigarette packs that show what can happen to them if they continue smoking.
Carbs don’t have graphic images on their containers yet but since diets are to each his own, it’s now up to you on what you’re willing to give up in your health journey.
I was taste-testing carbs up to, hmmm, yesterday and suffered the consequences, more particularly pronounced in my mental health — the moment I woke up, I already knew those carbs were affecting my brain again, and it wasn’t just the brain fog. The world started to look gloomy, with the rainy and cloudy days not helping at all.
As I wrote in previous columns, the struggle is real when it comes to avoiding carbs since they’re legal, they’re sold at the sari-sari store near you. Unlike drugs.
I once asked a psychiatrist why an alcoholic could never stop drinking even if the latter had been through several rehab stints. The psychiatrist said it’s because alcohol is legal, any Pinoy can drink the days and nights away without the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency trying to catch him.
And that’s the same with carbs. There’s no carb police who will put you in jail if you’re bingeing on, say, hopia. Which I found myself doing last week when the food stall that sells Ho-Land and Eng Bee Tin hopia at SM CDO Downtown Premier finally had the Eng Bee Tin ube hopia that I was craving for. I didn’t remember trying that before, so, why was I craving for something I had not tasted yet?
But there I was, looking for that hopia at Cagayan de Oro malls. Only to realize that the ube hopia wasn’t worth its carbs. My niece Kata said that I was “nabitin sa Eng Bee Tin.” Hehe.
I did notice that each time I was carbo-loading, the more I was convinced beef is the yummiest food.
I always order beef when it’s on the resto’s menu because the only beef recipes this household can dare cook are lauya and grilled beef patties. And that’s with the simplest ingredient: salt.
Carbs are yummy but once they’re inside the tummy, I don’t feel good anymore. This is much like that quote: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
The recovering left knee is always the first to complain after carbo-loading. But despite that and the hypertension and the mental health, which are my deep whys for transitioning from low-carb to carnivore, I’m still craving for biko. Will I be better off craving for Vico instead? Ooh la la.
