Big Spin Tonight, Too Much Store Made Popcorn Last Night!

I have my 2nd Big Spin class tonight.  It will be 60 minutes of spin on my bike followed by 30 minutes of swimming.  Last week's class was tough and I know tonight's will be tough as well.  Heck, it takes 15 minutes just to round up all my gear and get it in the car.  This is commitment.  When did I become so committed to this sport, or any sport, for that matter?  Crazy stuff is happening in my old age.

We bowl on Wednesday nights and I always pop some popcorn as a snack.  I don't eat much of it, because it is just popcorn.  I started doing this because one of the members of our team loves popcorn and she is a wonderful person that is always doing kind things for other people, so this is my little way of giving something back to her.  Apparently, having popcorn on the table last week led to a discussion of flavored popcorn sold by Topsy's and Velvet Cream, so she brought a few bags to bowling last night.  I should not have taken the first bite because it was addictive.  I ate way too much of it.

As I was thinking about how I feel about over eating on this artificially flavored product they call popcorn (really, its taste and texture does not resemble popcorn in any way), I thought a lot more about the effect this product had on my brain than on my weight.  After reading Grain Brain, more and more often I think about the impact that my food choices have on my brain and I find myself deciding that I need to be more careful about my food choices so that I will have a healthy brain into my old age.  My thought process is shifting to understanding that taking care of my body means taking care of what is in my bloodstream which means taking care of what chemicals, nutrients, and fuels get to my brain.  It's almost like the rest of me is an incubator protecting my most vital and sensitive organ.  It's not my heart or liver or kidneys or lungs that I need to protect most, it's my brain.  Of course, everything I do to protect my brain will also benefit those other organs, but a weakening brain is what will end me up in a long-term-care situation a lot sooner than any of those others.  I've sworn off wheat and other gluten containing grains for life.  I have no doubt about that.  But it's the other crap that I need to tackle now.  Sweets tempt me, but sweets elevate blood sugars which can lead to a host of other problems down the road.  The sweets have got to go, as do all of the artificial ingredients put into processed food to make it pleasing to eat. 

That's what I was thinking about on the way to work today.  How about you?