In Defense of Excess

Hey there, beautiful.  I hope that you enjoy making new connections with yourself and others during this first month of our Best Me challenge.  I added in a little more sugar this week in the form of almond milk ice cream bars, but I'm still not eating much pasta or bread.  I splurged yesterday on one of my weekly friend dates by eating a whole bunch of Indian food (naan, papadum, jasmine rice, goa chicken), but enjoying a favorite restaurant with a favorite friend was well worth the extra calories.

If you've ever had a friend who would quite literally punch someone in the face for you...well, this is mine.  Her father is suffering from cancer, and I hope that our weekly dates are making her life a little brighter.  If weekly trips to Starbucks and The Oven don't cheer her up, I don't know what will.  Haha!

So, what about splurging?  Whether it's food or shoes or pedicures, we all have something that just makes us feel better.  For me it has always been food with friends.  Lunch dates, ice cream dates, coffee dates...my friends and I love to gather around food.  Some people go fishing or shopping or running together.  I often gather with friends to do yoga (and drink mimosas...oops).

I don't discourage splurging with purpose.  In fact, I encourage you to gather with friends, and if it means you eat an extra 500 calories, oh well.  I know, it doesn't sound like very good dieting advice, but being healthy isn't just about how many calories you eat.

There are certain things that we absolutely must do it excess in order to be happy:

Love one another.
Go on dates.
Be grateful.
Cuddle.
Rest.
Hug.

So, we are going to eat whole foods.  We are going to stop eating so much sugar.  We are going to get moving.  We are going to love cooking and yoga and napping.

We are going to choose health and happiness over what we think our lives/bodies should look like.  We are going to choose friendship and love and peace over resentment and judgement.

We are going to enjoy life and its indulgences.

When you're feeling like you need something healthy to come back to, I have the perfect smoothie: green tea and tropical fruit.

Start by brewing some extra strong green tea.  I brew mine in a little Mason jar.  I pop on the lid and put it in the fridge overnight.  When you're ready, combine the green tea with 1/2-1 cup on frozen mixed tropical fruit in a blender.  If you're really smart you might have some extra frozen bananas to add into your smoothie because frozen bananas give smoothies amazing texture.  Add in some honey (honey is sugar, but it's sugar filled with lots of nutrients), and blend well.  You can toss in some chia seeds or flax seeds if you'd like.  Enjoy!