Live a Little

Originally posted on 2/7/2013. 

I write to you tonight with a (very) full tummy.

“Say what?!?  But I thought you were going to help me be lean, and thin, and healthy, and… “

…starving?  Missing out on life?  Not a chance.  First of all, I’m not a perfect eater.  If you’re looking for that person, you should go elsewhere.  I love all kinds of food and I love eating food.  I look forward to wine and cheese nights with the girls, and there is not much you could do to make me miss out on some Belgian dark chocolate.  That being said, it’s all about moderation; in life, and on the road. 

Some of the amazing things you will find as you travel are all the different foods and drinks.  Even in your own city there may be restaurants that are commonplace to you, but are new and different to someone from another region of our country.   Take my tour partner Leslie.  Before this adventure she’d never seen a Sonic, never heard of a Waffle House, Huddle House, Cook Out, Jack in the Box, O’Charley’s… you get the idea.  One of the last people I toured with had never heard of Chick-fil-A (it was a couple years ago, before the hullaballo).  And these are fairly large chains!  Granted, some of them regional, but still… they’ve all got several restaurant locations.  Then you get into local restaurants, local foods, wines, beers, etc.  Options and new possibilities are all around you.  You want to try it all, you want to eat everything, and you want to experience every morsel of new taste that you may encounter.

Stop. Just Stop.

Before you get excited and nervous about missing out on all the amazing tastes and treats, take a moment to inventory.  What is your situation?  How long are you traveling?  What will going hog-wild with your diet over the next few days to do you?  Foodovers (like hangovers) are a thing.  For real.

However, that doesn’t mean don’t try things.  In fact, DO try things.  Try things often.  Just plan ahead for these new experiences.  Today was Leslie’s first Waffle House experience (hence the fully belly I alluded to earlier).  We’ve seen them everywhere over the last four weeks and even had them next to several different hotels where we’ve stayed.  She said she wanted to eat at one.  So yes, we ate Waffle House.  No, this is not on the list of things that I recommend in my “if you’re in the area you absolutely have to try” Pinterest board.  However, if you see things, and you get a desire to try them out, try!

What I will suggest, is what we did.  After she mentioned several days ago she’d like to eat at a Waffle House on our adventure- we chose a day.  We knew at least three days ago we were going to have dinner there tonight. Step one, plan ahead.

So now armed with that knowledge, I’ve based my actions around this meal.  No snacking today: fruits, veggies, and Shakeology.  I was prepared.  You can be too. 

Okay, so the take-away from this rather long-winded blog is- plan ahead and enjoy in moderation.  As long as you’re aware that these things are happening and as long as you don’t do them every night- it’s okay to enjoy the tasty things in life.  Like I always say, what’s the good of having a six-pack if you have no one to share it with?