Trade-Offs

Trade-offs.

I'm not good at them.

I want what I want, when I want it. I don't like to wait; I don't like to compromise. And I simply do not want to give up one option for another.
Turns out that this sort of mindset can get me into trouble. Boys, for instance. They kinda want you to choose just one of them. But that is easy compared to the dilemma of choosing between, say, french fries or a brownie, or beer or a baguette with butter.

For most of my life, I haven't been choosing. I haven't been a woman that diets (and I still don't want to be). I don't often decide that I'll have a salad for lunch, or that I'll use a low-fat spread, or that put nondairy creamer in my coffee. I'm a proponent of real food--I think our bodies are meant to have the nutrients found in food that comes from nature, not food that has been altered by a machine. The salad thing, well, it's mostly because salads don't satisfy me.

But what I'm meaning here is that, because I focus on food and not on low-fat, low-caloric substitutions, I need to find some other way to cut back. I'm never going to be skinny, but when last year's shorts won't fasten, it's time for a change. So trade-offs. Having a beer with dinner means no dessert. Choosing the amazing chips from Jack's Fish Spot means giving up pizza later in the week.

It's not about being thin. It's not about self-denial. It's about knowing my body, and knowing what makes me feel healthy, and what makes me feel as though I'm dragging. And as much as I love my beer, chocolate and butter, it's about consciously choosing not to have all of them in one day...or if I do, to have them in much smaller quantities.