S.A.D.D. Seasonal Affective Diet Disaster — Now with recipes

The colors of carb season in the Sierra foothills.

Welcome to carb season. Early onset evenings. Weather that results in a prescription to stay inside because even if you want to go out and hike in the foothills when it’s 35 degrees Fahrenheit for a high, the foothills are covered with (please choose one):

1. Snow

2. Ice

3. Slush

4. Snow and ice

5. Rain

6. Coldness, built up into an almost tangible thing (seriously, what part of 35 degrees Fahrenheit for a high didn’t scream cold to you?)

So this is carb season, when the sun doesn’t come up in our valley in the Sierra foothills until 30 minutes after everyone else and they’re not getting sun until after 7 a.m. in November, and everyone loses the sun by 4:30.

During the summer when watching my weight / losing weight / or trying not to gain any more weight, I can do a fairly good job of avoiding carbohydrates. For one thing, there’s fruit, and if peaches and plums are going to make me gain weight, so be it. In reality, even if Atkins was right and fruit makes blood sugar peak, resulting in a crash that makes you want to eat even more, so what? Because at least for me, what I want is more fruit (see above, I don’t believe I’m going to gain weight eating peaches).