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Tuesday\u00a0is Mardi Gras, when a parade of partiers famously let loose in New Orleans every year.<\/p>\nTuesday\u00a0is Mardi Gras, when a parade of partiers famously let loose in New Orleans every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMardi Gras\u201d means \u201cFat Tuesday\u201d and represents the day prior to Lent, the 40 days of fasting before Easter. Thus Tuesday is fat because the next six weeks are supposed to be lean.<\/p>\n
Mardi Gras has become a cultural hood ornament for a splurge-and-purge mentality.<\/p>\n
Blow it out on Saturday night and expect to pay for it the next morning.<\/p>\n
The bitter medicinal spoon comes tomorrow, so drink from the sweet cup today.<\/p>\n
The self-imposed credit\/debt tradeoff of excess provides a rationalization for the wicked bender. And we pay back the dietary loan following the excess of overconsumption by punishing ourselves in one form or another. Some of us join gyms, undergo restrictive diets, or just feel bad about ourselves.<\/p>\n
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For many, this self-flagellation serves as a well-deserved punishment: If the problem was that we lived it up too much, the solution must be the opposite.<\/p>\n
If we were too good to ourselves, we now must be punished with the equal and opposite pain.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear how unhealthy this attitude is. It can lead to\u00a0overconsumption<\/a>, and going from one extreme of eating to another not only can lead to\u00a0physiological problems like diabetes<\/a>, but can also mirror emotional extremes. In addition,\u00a0disordered eating patterns<\/a>\u00a0can lead to more weight issues.<\/p>\n And suddenly, you can find yourself in a positive feedback cycle of abandon, regret, and\u00a0self-loathing<\/a>.<\/p>\n The dietary antidote to the splurge-and-purge self-denial trap is to avoid the binging in the first place.<\/p>\n Avoiding the swings between excess and denial requires moderation.<\/p>\n The excess to avoid is not the\u00a0quality\u00a0of your food, but the\u00a0quantity. The wine is fine in control, the party is fine in control, and everything from cheese to chocolate is great for you until you eat it out of control.That\u2019s the problem, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n The Mardi-Gras mentality we accept as the norm does nothing to promote moderation. It\u2019s \u201ceither-or,\u201d \u201call or nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n And it\u2019s more prevalent than once a year at Mardi Gras.<\/p>\n