You're going about your normal morning work routine when you see them. You walked right by. You know they're just sitting there -- in that white cardboard box -- waiting. You get up. You go to check it out. You look. Yay! Someone brought in doughnuts!
Look at all those golden brown doughnuts! You make the grab. The doughnuts are still warm. You take a bite. It starts to melt in your mouth. You feel the slippery sweetness on your tongue -- the slight crackling of the glaze when you bit into it. It's soft. It's light. It tastes fantastic. What a luscious confection. It's sheer happiness!
Just what you needed. That doughnut was soothing to your soul. It was just right. You lick your fingers on the way back to your desk. You do your thing. You think about how that doughnut tasted. Hmmmm...you're starting to think you need to get another one. It was so sweet and delicious. Yes. Just one more. You get up and get another...
Now -- you're done. You're finished. Yes. It's time to get back to work. The phone rings. You answer the phone. You work on your projects. The doughnuts no longer distract you. You're feeling good. You feel energized -- just like that bunny.
Behind the scenes, the sugar from the doughnuts has entered your bloodstream and your blood sugar level starts to rise. Your pancreas releases insulin and you begin to experience the sugar rush. You're just crankin' along -- puttin' out the work. You have so many things to do today -- but you're getting them done!
Then...you yawn. You have to re-read that paragraph you just typed. You lost your place. Look at that! You can't believe you spelled that word wrong. Who typed that anyway? You're having trouble concentrating. Oh jeez -- now you're feeling a little sleepy.
Maybe you need to get up. Maybe if you just walk around a little bit you'll wake up. That might help. Yes. You need a break. You're up. You're walking. You engage in a conversation with one of your co-workers. You go to the restroom. You check your mailbox. You get a new pen out of the office supply cabinet. You get another cup of coffee.
That's better. You return to your desk. Back to work now. Hmmm...the visit you just had with your co-worker -- it made you a little cranky. You have to get back on task. Okay. Where were you? You yawn. Oh yeah...now you remember. Fix those spelling errors. Type that over again.
About an hour after you ate those doughnuts, your blood sugar levels start to fall -- rapidly. Now you're in the "crash" part of the process. Productivity has taken a dive. You can't focus as well -- you're distracted. Your attention span is short. Your memory is impaired. You're ineffective. You're feeling drained.
Those tasty glazed doughnuts hit you for about 200 calories each. That doughnut has 12 grams of fat and 10 grams of sugar. Oh, that's not so bad, is it? No, not really. But, wait a minute. You had two of them, didn't you? Uh huh. Then you have to double your pleasure. Now you're talking about 400 calories, 24 grams of fat and 20 grams of sugar.
Let's drop the "grams" -- Let's talk teaspoons. Have you ever tried to eat a teaspoon of sugar? No? Yes? Well, think about this. Four grams of sugar equals one teaspoon. Ten grams of sugar is 2.107 teaspoons. When you eat two glazed doughnuts, you've eaten over four teaspoons of sugar.
Let's go one better. If you picked out a cream-filled, glazed doughnut, you just stepped up another notch. Now you're chowing down on doughnuts that are 350 calories each. The doughnut would have 20 grams of fat, and 24 grams of sugar. If you ate two of those and doubled down -- your new total is 700 calories, 40 grams of fat and 48 grams of sugar.
You've eaten almost 10 teaspoons of pure sugar. No, I'm not kidding. Think about eating one teaspoon of sugar at a time from your sugar bowl at home -- then eat about 8 more. That's a picture, isn't it? Gag me with a spoon -- literally. Ugh.
Those in the medical and nutrition professions usually cite diet plan meals at 1,200 calories per day for women. If you ate two cream-filled, glazed doughnuts -- you'd only have 500 calories left for the rest of the day.
It's not the sugar or the fat in those doughnuts that make them your enemy. It's how often we eat them -- the kind we eat -- and how many we eat at one time.
The little fried friends we love so much -- turned on us again.