SUNDAYS. Zzzzz. The Sunday before Christmas. Zzzzz. Especially if it’s a rainy Sunday. Zzzzz.

So, there I was on that rainy Sunday afternoon, having a siesta and a siesta dream: I was eating chips—nachos? potato chips?—and ordering Coke Zero. But the guy I ordered it from gave me regular Coke that he poured into a glass which he then put inside a pitcher of water. What the…? And I was telling him, I ordered Coke Zero!

Juice colored. I’m dreaming about my diet now. Or my non-diet—chips are carbs. Perhaps it was a warning for me to be wary of carbs but how how the carabao batutin in this season of baked goodies and sweets?

It’s easy to justify a high-carb diet through the fact that Christmas happens only once a year, somehow forgetting that Christmas in Pinas starts in September and ends on the Chinese New Year. Christmas Day does last for only one day but let’s see if a low-carb doctor and coach will allow a high-carb intake for the noche buena.

High-carb side effects will appear even if it’s Christmas, thus, it’s advisable for the low-carb dieter to always consider if a slice of fruitcake is worth the carbs.

Does exercise lessen the carb’s side effects? Hmmm.

No Zumba classes and group exercises at the gym on December 24 and 25 but I’m 100-percent sure of some gym classmates going there on Christmas Day.

On Monday, we saw new faces at the gym and realized they were here on vacation from Manila. That’s how dedicated fitness enthusiasts could be, they tend to search for the gym’s other branches at the venue of their vacation. My gym friends do the same when they’re in Cebu or Manila.

So, why exercise while on vacation? Isn’t that the time to eat, drink, and be merry? For the endorphins. If you’re not smiling after a Zumba class or gym workout, something else must have happened along the way, and you now need to rethink your definition of healthy living.

Diet and exercise have always been the most reliable pair for good health. But it has to start with the right diet.

Sometimes I’m so tempted to say that the right diet is whatever works for you. But what exactly is the meaning of what works for you? Is that the one you can stick with forevermore? If I can stick with a diet of potato chips, peanuts, and diet soda, will that be the best for me?

Sour cream and onion was my favorite flavor for junk food. If an ultra-processed food had that on its label, I knew it would be delish.

Now, my grocery-shopping is much faster since I don’t go around the junk-food aisles anymore.

Junk food is here, there, and everywhere, even while lining up at the cashier where a bored shopper may grab a plastic container filled with banana chips and literally add it to cart. Wait, was that me?

And then upon arriving home, I remembered why I stopped buying those banana chips: they’re too sweet. I prefer the plain kind. But banana chips are and will always be carbs with or without the honey, sugar, or whatever sweetener the manufacturer has added to them.

And fruitcake is and will always be carbs as it’s passed down from generation to generation. Eat it already and have a Merry Christmas.