DIETER, HOARDER OR ADDICT ??

Hum---think I am on a food kick. I am not sure what I am working with here but around Christmas time, I discovered candy canes. Yeah, I know, where have I been for the past 71 years? Now I have had an occasional candy cane in my life but they were just a seasonal thing that I put aside when the season ended.

I do love mint in most forms. Peppermint Patties are a #one favorite, Mint Tea, Chocolate Mint Ice Cream, when I use to drink, Peppermint Schnapps and don't get me started on Wintergreen Altoids. Christmas showed me a new use for the versatile mint. Diet food.

Don't scoff yet. Do you ever finish a healthy, moderate calorie meal and just need something sweet to finish it off? I have never been a dessert person. Not sure why but pies, cakes, cookies, etc after a meal are only rare occasion treats for me. They always seem to push me over the full mark right into the unpleasantly stuffed category.

We all know it takes about 20 minutes for the food we have eaten to relay the message to our brains that we have had enough. But during that 20 minutes, if the fork is not set aside, it will continue to feed that greedy little lying mouth.

My concern has always been how to turn off the hunger for that 20 minutes. People used to walk after a meal. Not so much anymore. After clean up, I most likely head for the porch swing or the ever deadly computer.

When I smoked, the nasty cigarettes occupied my oral desires for that important 20 minutes. I never had a weight problem when I smoked but then I couldn't taste food either which was another contributing factor. Actually a cup or two of coffee or tea would probably do the job as well but is not nearly as much fun as what I found. The candy cane.

Now I have Glucosamine soft chews for my arthritis that I take after breakfast and dinner to satisfy that something sweet need. However lunch, which is my biggest meal, was lacking that finishing touch. The candy cane now handles that problem.

I am talking about those 6 inch hook top mini canes that hit the stores each Christmas. They supply a grand total of 55 calories and peppermint is actually good for the digestion. I love to nibble them—it takes me at least 20 minutes, often more to nibble one and one satisfies me for the whole day.
 
Knowing I have one waiting lets me put my fork down while I still think I am hungry. By the time I finish a cane, my stomach has finally informed my brain all about the meal I ate 20 minutes ago and I am sated. Finis.

So where do you find them after Christmas. The wonderful Internet. First I researched the shelf life of the candy cane and it has a whopping 3 year life span. Almost up there with fruit cakes. Both should be in your survival supplies for the next "end of earth" should you not be one to go:)

This month I ran out of the ones I had squirreled away from the Christmas sales and  ordered 18 boxes of canes  from the Internet. That is what may put me in the hoarder category and might convince some that I am an addict.

All I really know is that it limits my intake of food, leaves me satisfied and that mammoth supply should last till next Christmas. I really am content to eat one a day. 

While this plan hasn't made the pounds drop off, neither have any pounds been added despite age reducing my exercise options.  I have easily maintained the 10 pound loss from last year. At ten pounds per year, I only have to live 2.5 more years to reach my goal weight.

Yes, food and weight are a constant struggle but it is a struggle I welcome over the ones other people in this world face who also go to bed hungry at night---- but not by their choice.

So do you think my candy canes are an addiction? Does the cupboard full of them make me a hoarder or have I hit on something​?