Confession: Overindulgence!

I will now proceed to embarrass myself and quote Grey's Anatomy.

""The fantasy is simple. Pleasure is good, and twice as much pleasure is better. But the reality is that pain is there to tell us something, and there's only so much pleasure we can take without getting a stomach ache.”

That's right, I watch that silly soap opera. But here's what, that quote is so true. Let's back it up to last Thursday. My husband, who clearly needs a good nick name, let's call him Big B for now, was free for the first evening in a really long time. I don't think we had shared a meal together in something like 5 days. So what were we to do but go out and celebrate? Enter our favorite local restaurant with amazing Italian food and really reasonable prices. This was actually only a moderately indulgent meal, at least as far as volume and unhealthy food goes. We both got the lobster tail, which was grilled rather than drowned in butter. We split a salad with beets and goat cheese, split a plate of broccolli rabe as big as my head, split a bottle of wine. Ahhh, there's where the indulgence comes in. I thought I felt fine, but no, must have been looped because I ate four squares of dark chocolate, fell asleep almost before reaching the bed and woke up feeling wonky.

Ok, so this wouldn't have been too big a deal, one mildly indulgent meal. BUT...

We went away last weekend, first to Woodstock, then to MA to visit family. We took my brother in law with us and made him an indulgent birthday dinner Friday night. Fortunately or unfortunately I left most of the drinking to them (they were both hung over for many hours the next day), but instead indulged in too much dinner. All good things (I think coconut sorbet is a good thing!), but still way way way too much.

AND STILL, this would have been ok, but my Mother in Law was in Beverly waiting for us! And she is Greek! Food is most certainly love. Now, I did ok with the meal. Lovely huge salad. A little fish, a little rice, all good. But when she brought out the homemade apple pie I was D.O.N.E. Seriously, had a piece as big as the plate itself. I mean, I NEEDED it. It was apples! And that amazing bottle of Truchard Pinot Noir probably hadn't affected my willpower or anything...right?

Now, the Sunday morning yoga was heavy and painful for sure. But even then I felt great when I was done. Nothing like a sweaty (modified for foot) ashtanga practice to clear out the remains of last night's dinner and drinks. Not that I recommend behaving this way on purpose! But it does happen, and then the practice will help the renewal process.

Alas, my Dad was waiting at home that evening to have his sweet and nurturing Italian girlfriend cook dinner. Pasta. Prosecco. Cheese. Chocolate. Now normally I avoid all the "white" stuff as much as possible. Allowing it in for rare occasions when it's truly excellent and I'm feeling physically great. But really, I'm going to let Big B's Mom nurture me, but refuse my Dad? I don't think so! Plus, yes, it was really good. All garlicky. And with bubbly prosecco to toast each other's health, what was I to do??

Needless to say, Monday was a yoga free day. And, like any good Ashtangi, I felt some indulger's remorse. Although I think wine and dessert and pasta can be part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle, I don't think they're great for days in a row. But life happens. Husbands and Fathers and Brothers and Mothers-in-Law are to be enjoyed and celebrated. So, after the "too much pleasure" and the resultant bellyache, what's a yogi to do?

GET ON THE MAT. Which I did. And get clean. Which I'm doing. Not in a "cleansey", drink only lemon water for a week kind of way, but hopefully in a slow steady way that will make me feel better by the weekend. Green is the key here, but in a wholesome way. I wake up and have my warm lemon water each day, but then I move on. Yup, I still drink coffee, but not so much, and lemon water first! Then a green juice or a green smoothie. And salads and cooked greens at every meal. Ok, there's still room for little treats. I had those amazing raw ginger snaps from One Lucky Duck for dessert last night! But slightly less indulgent indulgences.

Now, maybe next time I'll have a half-sized slice of pie, or resist the wine one of the nights, or simply tell my Dad to make fish and salad. Or maybe I won't. But fortunately, there's a yoga mat, a green juice and a beautiful salad around every corner.

Now, where did I hide that chocolate????