Wimp out, or face the music?

So do I face the music, or wimp out and pretend that ignorance is bliss?

As I may have alluded to before, this time of year is a love/hate kind of time for me...LOVE the magic of Christmas, especially when my kids get caught up in the real meaning of the season.  I LOVE Christmas Eve mass...the music is something I look forward to every year...I LOVE the decorations, sights, smells and overall feeling that Christmas is coming...BUT...I really, really, really LOVE Christmas cookies.  I HATE how I feel once I've pigged out on them with reckless abandon - they're everywhere, so it's impossible to avoid them and impossible not to eat them.  I know - nothing's impossible - I choose to act like a kid in a candy shop and stuff my face.  But it sure feels like it's beyond my power of self-control.

Anyway, regarding whether to "face the music"...the super cool folks at our "Pro-Activity Lab" have devised a sort of holiday experiment - we're all faced with high calorie, high fat treats this time of year...and most, if not all of us will freely indulge in the gluttony...but does this roughly 2 week binge really have an overall effect on our blood glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol levels?  In order to find out, they're asking for test subjects to come in early on Wednesday (Dec 21) morning, having fasted from the night prior to take a "before" sample...then come back on Tuesday, January 3rd to take another fasting "after" sample.  Sounds pretty simple, right? (This is just the thing I really miss about being a "lab-rat" - I love being a part of experiments; writing up the hypothesis, putting together the testing procedure, administering the test and then analyzing the results...yep, I'm a geek.  But I'm ok with that...) 

Only problem is, I'd have to be a test subject this time...and do I really want to know what all those goodies are doing to me?  On the one hand, of course!  The more you know, the better- particularly when it comes to our health...if there's something borderline or needs to be addressed, the sooner the better.  On the other hand...I really like cookies.  Will knowing how much (particularly if a lot) damage is being done, ruin a happy part of the holidays for me?  Sigh.  I suppose if that were the case, I'd have to start looking for other, non-Christmas cookie associations to make with this time of year...and I can't think of any right now.  Maybe over time?

So, I'm in.  From lab-rat to...well, a lab rat.  And I'll publish my numbers...stay tuned...Gulp!

(If you're interested in partaking in the study too, click here to register or call 730-6640 for more information)