Cheeseburger in Paradise

Hey everyone!

So NEDAweek is over and it was a HUGE success. Now that the week is past us, I have to focus on school work, with my first exam of spring semester on Wednesday. I’m trying to not freak out about it, because I really have not put any time into it yet. Guess I just won’t be sleeping much Monday or Tuesday.

My eating was totally thrown of course this week. The executive board for NEDAC went out to dinner Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (two meals with speakers, one celebration dinner). Although it left me feeling overstuffed and a little guilty, all the food was charged to the club, which was awesome! lol I also went out to dinner last night with a guy friend, got the most insanely delicious vegetable lasagna with big broccoli florets in it.

The highlight though of my week of eating out was today. After partying far too hard last night (one of my more epic weekends at college), I ended up staying in bed until 3pm. I never EVER do that. It was kind of fun being a college bum for once. Finally at 3:30pm my stomach was growling. I wasn’t hung over (SO surprising), but I had that post-drinking gross stomach feeling. The cure? GREASE! As my friend and I were discussing the best “day after” meal choices, one in particular stuck out: cheeseburger and fries. The last time I had a beef cheeseburger was probably junior year of high school.

I was pretty damn excited for that burger. It’s so rare that you crave something so specifically, so I knew I had to listen to my body and go all out. No veggie burger, no subbing a side salad, it had to be meat, cheese, bread, and fries… with lots of ketchup.

We went to a diner, because diners have the best food. When my huge plate of fatty deliciousness was placed in front of me, I dug in and didn’t leave a crumb behind. I was pretty full afterwards, but totally satisfied.

It’s almost midnight now, and the only other thing I’ve had was a no sugar added skim chai latte. This was not because I didn’t allow myself to eat anything else today because of my burger. If I felt genuinely hungry I would have eaten something. In the past, I would have been convinced that I had to eat something by 8 or 9, 4-5 hours after my last meal. I would have eaten out of habit, not true hunger.

But, I’m trying to listen to my body more, honor it’s cravings, and acknowledge what’s true hunger and what is emotion or routine. So even though my only food today was a big greasy cheeseburger, fries, and a chai latte, I did an excellent job of listening to my body, and that’s really important to me.

I do not advocate eating one meal in a day. But I do advocate listening to cravings and listening for hunger.

Goodnight,

Michelle