Waving Good-bye To The War Of Will

    Last night I had a dream that I was literally being pushed around in a wheel barrel eating a plate of smothered burritos...let that picture burn a hole in your brain for a minute. Now, all of you dream decoders or psychology majors(even people who have read one to many a self help book) may interpret this as my internal realization that as we age our metabolism slows causing the "fruits" of an unhealthy lifestyle to be harder to reverse. When really, it stems from a joke that I make every time I catch someone "noticing" my healthy appetite. I have been an eater my entire life and I know that I have said this before, but minus menudo, I have yet to find a dish that I don't find delicious. My Mom has always told me that people assumed she would be happy by a cheaper grocery bill when my "baby" big brother moved to college, but in actuality, it was I who cut that bill in half. Your welcome Mom! But seriously, without this "gift of gorge" from above, I would never have found my equally enjoyable(and pant size stabilizing)love of running. You can't have one without the other or the wheel barrel will be less of an interpretation and more of a intervention.
      This time of year though, my habit of hovering over the buffet style hot plates is brought to my attention more than ever (by myself obviously, I have yet to have that overtly honest family member mention it, thanks). It's the holidays! It starts by my trying to convince myself that no "extra helpings are necessary" or that the celery sticks and fat free ranch dip really do taste just as good as the cheese stuffed fried mushrooms and following said advice will save me from the springtime slim down before swimsuit season. Talk about hard to swallow information! I think about all the parties planned for the next 2 months and I always look forward more to all of the appetizers, alcohol and entrees than anything I could possibly unwrap. It's all about preferences people! But this overthinking can suck the fun right out of a sit down dinner before the sweet potatoes have even been served and it has gone on long enough!
     This year I have decided to forego fighting this "war of will" in favor of enjoying all of the feasts and festivities as they come! This silly dance is over partners! After all, you only live once and I'm not going to go down wishing I didn't pass on that plate of pie or that extra ladle of gravy to dip my warm buttery roll in. That's just delicious! Then after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years have all come and gone and there is nothing but the three most boring months of the year to look forward to, I will be thankful for the memories that I made, all of the prime rib with horseradish that I ate and the willpower to again watch my waistline. Happy holidays!