Enjoy Your Butter, Cheese, and Chocolate

These are my three favorite things (wait, I mean foods...) in the world: butter, cheese, and chocolate. I really crave them on a regular basis. I used to have the attitude that these things were supposed to be on the No-No list. I mean, they really have no nutritional benefits and are loaded with saturated fat. I guess you could argue that chocolate has some antioxidant benefits...but not the type that I crave. I am not craving dark, organic, pure chocolate. I want Hersheys.  Isn't that awful? I want M&Ms and Hershey Bars with almonds. It's my dirty little secret.

So, in my efforts to be healthier, I tried really hard not to eat these things. I made silent promises to myself that I would not eat any chocolate, and stop cooking with butter, and avoid all cheese. The end result was that I would just eat everything else in the house in my efforts to avoid these naughty items. And I realized I was probably eating far more calories trying to avoid these things than if I had just had indulged a little.

Tonight, I was tired and hungry, as usual. All I wanted was potato skins loaded with cheese, and beer, and Hershey bars.

So I made eggplant...bitterly. I don't like eggplant at all. I have never liked it. I carefully cut it up, and salted it (to get the evil out), and breaded it, and fried it. It actually tasted pretty good...but made me feel awful. I immediately got a stomach ache and headache. So I stopped eating that.

Then I realized what I really wanted was this fabulous cheese I have, and some organic grapes, and organic apple slices, with a glass of wine. Why not? The kids weren't here, and Bill was at work. SO...I fixed myself a hearty plate of cheese slices and yummy sweet grapes and tart apple slices, and washed it all down with a glass of local fruit wine. And you know what? I felt fabulous. My whole body relaxed and I was energetic and happy.

And I learned an important lesson--that attitude you have about your food is very important. Feeling happy and excited about the food you are eating is as important as the nutritional benefits. So, while it wasn't potato skins and beer, the cheese plate and wine was my perfect indulgence for tonight and I feel fantastic about eating it. I actually feel a little excited just remembering how happy it made me. That counts for quite a lot.

Enjoy your life, friends!