Friday, June 11, 2010

28 - Indulgence

Every Friday, a group of my friends gather together at someone's house to watch movies—and eat. Pretty much it's a potluck dinner anytime we socialize with each other. Sometimes we seem to non-verbally coordinate very well and have a healthful spread fit for a king. Other times it's not so good as it is desserts as far as the eye can see. Tonight was a mostly healthy night.

My indulgence really didn't take on the typical quality of craving something sweet or salty—items that are usually associated with junk food. Strangely enough, I had the desire for eating more than my 140 grams of veggies for dinner.

Ever since I went vegetarian, my friends have been pretty good about bring some sort of veggie dish for me. Over the past few months, the number of vegetarian items have increased as many of them have been on a health kick—going to the YMCA or the gym. I don't know if my success from PCP had anything to do with their motivation, but I like to think it did.

The way the spread was set-up, we didn't have to walk very far to grab something to eat while the movie was playing. In fact, we didn't need to walk at all. We literally covered this rather large coffee table with food which we then proceeded to sit around. Although some items did need to be eaten off plates, most were pretty much of the finger-food variety.

The evil about this kind of grazing is that a person can have absolutely no idea how much food they have put into their system. The movie is playing, people are talking and having a good time, and you've only eaten one carrot stick—or at least you think that's all you've eaten.

I've shrunk a number of sizes since last summer and I'm a bit more conscious about what I'm eating. I allowed my self a little extra helping of pasta salad; noshed on roasted parsnips topped with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and chives; took a bit more of the artichoke dip; and hit the point where I could say that I was 100 percent full.

Meanwhile, I'm watching everyone else eat. And eat. And eat. And eat some more. I'm not sure if their cognizant of how much food is going into their bodies, but I am. Granted, there were a lot of distractions going on with veritable smorgasbord before them that required no energy whatsoever to retrieve. It was the total opposite of "mindful consumption" which could be best described as "mindless grazing".

Unfortunately, my partner and I couldn't stay there much later than 10pm. We had a bit of a walk ahead of us (yes, we hoofed it to our friend's house) and I wanted to be home early enough so I could get some sleep before needing to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at work the next morning. (Yay Saturday work schedules.) Plus I wanted to hit the farmer's market for my weekly supply of veggies before I needed to clock in.

And now it's time for me to punch out. Goodnight all!

2 comments:

  1. Hey E. I didn't know you went vegetarian. Musta missed it. Anyway, good on ya. But, I must admit, it's interesting to hear about people overindulging on veggies and their not so healthy toppings.

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  2. I know, it's always the toppings that kill, isn't it? What's funny is that in a restaurant it is often the simplest vegetables that are hardest to get!

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