{"id":1846,"date":"2016-02-08T14:57:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T19:57:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-09-21T11:04:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T15:04:14","slug":"mardi-gras-mentality-and-the-difference-between-a-common-practice-and-common-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1846","title":{"rendered":"Mardi Gras Mentality and the Difference Between a Common Practice, and Common Sense."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"mardigras\"<\/a>Tuesday<\/span>\u00a0is Mardi Gras, when a parade of partiers famously let loose in New Orleans every year.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\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.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Follow @willclower<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

Mardi Gras has become a cultural hood ornament for a splurge-and-purge mentality.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blow it out on Saturday night and expect to pay for it the next morning.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The bitter medicinal spoon comes tomorrow, so drink from the sweet cup today.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\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.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"deprivation_diet\"<\/a>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.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
If we were too good to ourselves, we now must be punished with the equal and opposite pain.<\/span><\/div>\n
It\u2019s clear how unhealthy this attitude is. I<\/span>t can lead to\u00a0overconsumption<\/a>, a<\/span>nd g<\/span>oing from one extreme of eating to another not only can lead to\u00a0physiological problems like diabetes<\/span><\/a>, but can also mirror emotional extremes. In addition,\u00a0disordered eating patterns<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0can lead to more weight issues. And suddenly, you can find yourself in a positive feedback cycle of abandon, regret, and\u00a0self-loathing<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
The dietary antidote to the splurge-and-purge self-denial trap is to avoid the binging in the first place.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Avoiding the swings between excess and denial requires moderation.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
The excess to avoid is not the\u00a0<\/span>quality<\/span>\u00a0of your food, but the\u00a0<\/span>quantity<\/span>. 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.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
That\u2019s the problem, isn\u2019t it? The Mardi-Gras mentality we accept as the norm does nothing to promote moderation. It\u2019s \u201ceither-or,\u201d \u201call or nothing.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
And it\u2019s more prevalent than once a year at Mardi Gras. For example, the CDC\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>that an astounding one in six adults binge drinks at least four times a month.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"college_binge_drinking\"<\/a>The 18-to-24 age group drinks nine drinks per booze-up (it\u2019s even higher for those 65+).\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
In other words, what sounds like the activity of the once-a-year Mardi Gras party is actually happening all the time.<\/span>
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\n<\/span><\/div>\n
Compare our drinking pattern to that of the French and Italians. They drink more than we do\u2014their per capita consumption of wine is about 44 liters per person per year, compared to Americans, who drink closer to\u00a09 liters<\/span><\/a>\u00a0per person per year.\u00a0<\/span>The difference between us and them is that many in these cultures drink a little wine with a meal. It\u2019s consumed every day, but more in control.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Food and drink (and even a little Mardi Gras mayhem now and then) only become bad when they\u2019re overdone. Find the sane middle ground.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower’s website. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday\u00a0is Mardi Gras, when a parade of partiers famously let loose in New Orleans every year.\u00a0 \u201cMardi Gras\u201d means \u201cFat Tuesday\u201d and represents the day prior to Lent, the 40 … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-tM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2456,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2456","url_meta":{"origin":1846,"position":0},"title":"Free Seminar — Mardi-Gras Mentality","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi, this is Will Clower.I want everyone to join me on Mardi Gras!! On Tuesday, February 16, for a free 30 minute webinar. Listen to the Audio HereI'm going to blather on and on and on ... about the Mardi Gras mentality ... how it creates failure for your weight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.gotomeeting.com\/g2mimages\/webinar\/themes\/training\/button_registerNow.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1845,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1845","url_meta":{"origin":1846,"position":1},"title":"For Mardi Gras, a brilliant gumbo recipe","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Will Clower.\" It\u2019s not a Cajun name.\u00a0Maybe this gumbo recipe would be more credible coming from someone named Lafayette \u201ccrawfish\u201d Prud\u2019homme. 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Animal advocates have long argued that the production of pate de foie gras -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatfallacy.com\/arnoldmuscle.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2530,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2530","url_meta":{"origin":1846,"position":4},"title":"Stevia the Holy Grail of Sweeteners?","author":"Will Clower","date":"July 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, Stevia is derived from a plant, but so was ephedra (ma huang) -- which contributed to heart valve problems.Yes it is GRAS (generally recognized as safe), but so is Aspartame. This article comes from a very food industry perspective. 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