AT the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) Christmas party, I was seated right next to the sound system speaker which made the lechon inside my tummy jump for joy.
That Friday was the busiest as I hopped from the gym in uptown Cagayan de Oro, to a mall in downtown CDO for movie and lunch, to the COPC Christmas party at a downtown resto, and finally to one of the family’s Christmas dinners at an uptown village. Since Friday always has the worst traffic in the already “trafficky” CDO, the Friday in between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day could be the worst of all.
As I looked forward to the long five-day weekend, I soon realized Saturday would be gym again plus the lunch and coffee with one of my gym groups, and there’s the out-of-town Christmas party with high school classmates on Monday, meaning, I’d be able to insert my eat-read-sleep hibernation only on Sunday.
I would have loved to stay home from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, which was my hard habit to break in previous years. But this year has been unusual, with major events happening almost at the same time, forcing me to adopt “adapt” as my favorite word.
One goal at a time, one day at a time. Always heaving a deep sigh of relief once the goal is achieved.
This Christmas season, however, has been testing my low-carb resolution to the max. Meat dishes will always be this way: steak is steak, bacon is bacon, scrambled eggs are scrambled eggs. It’s the food that has flour that may not always taste the same, with one yummier than the other—the possibilities are endless.
Pizza, for example. There are new restos in CDO that are now serving the yummiest pizzas. Just close your eyes while savoring each bite and they can instantly bring you to Italy.
The low-carb dieter has learned to scrape toppings off the pizza and eat only the toppings but I don’t think he will do that if he’s on vacation in Italy.
So, I watch carnivore videos on YouTube, hoping they could inspire me to forget about pizza doughs.
Pasta is easier to avoid since I could still taste the pasta’s blah-ness that the truffle is trying to hide.
Rice is the easiest to avoid since I now see it as paste, you know, like glue.
As for baked goodies, I always wonder if my sis Joan’s blueberry cheesecake can be found in the cafes and restos here in CDO. I’ve found none so far and I’m sure I’ll never find that yummiest taste again.
It’s only when I’m home that I can truly stick to my carnivore diet.
But how to avoid eating out with family and friends? I’m a foodie. My family is a foodie family. My friends are foodies. Even among gym friends, the first thought after gym is food.
Some low-carb dieters have learned to bring low-carb food wherever they go. Perhaps I’ll do that, too, in 2025. Operative word: perhaps.
This has always been the advice of low-carb doctors and coaches: to immediately go back to low-carb in the next meal. How many times have I been doing that this month? Hmmm.
