A Monday musing

How I manage a balanced healthy lifestyle where moderation is key

An amazing plain-old-for-no-good-reason Monday Margarita!

I will always eat the damn cupcake. Indulge in a glass of wine. Scream for ice cream. I also love green smoothies, roasted veggies and avocado-anything. Life for me is really all about moderation. Everything in moderation, including moderation. Life is short. No one’s getting out alive and yes while we should all strive to be our best selves and manage a balanced healthy lifestyle and live our best life it also has to be a life that we enjoy. That’s the key here. Our own best life. Not the best life. Not a life of comparisons. My best life happens to be one that includes cupcakes, wine and ice cream, among other indulgences. If cupcakes, wine and ice cream aren’t your jam, that’s fine! But if treating yourself makes you happy, don’t deprive yourself. Be sensible, know when to rein it in, balance it out but say yes to the things that makes you happy.

If steering clear of all of life’s wonderful temptations brings you joy, I don’t believe you. If you’re over-indulging all the time without that moderation, it’s safe to say you probably aren’t going to feel very well.

You see, for me it’s entirely plausible that at any given moment I can wind up really sick. In a hospital bed attached to IV’s and nasal gastric bypass tubes and doctor mandated ‘No solid food or fluids by mouth’ orders for days on end and that is entirely out of my control, whether I’ve over-indulged, under-indulged or nailed the moderation just right. I live my life with this notion at the back of my mind. This very day two years ago I was in the midst of a hospital admission with a bowel obstruction. I genuinely thought it was just the same stomach flu my husband had, which it probably was and spun into a full blown Crohn’s flare. I missed my daughter’s third birthday (still feel extreme mom-guilt) and an extended family vacation to New England for my parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary (after I made their own exclusive newsletter and everything. We had personalized t-shirts. Train ride tickets. A hotel we couldn’t get refunded, jerks. I’m not bitter. Nope. Not at all.)  Those who know me well know I suffer from strong FOMO. That was a hard one to handle, that round. It’s why I rarely decline an invite. Because who knows, maybe next time it won’t be my choice to decline, but my health’s.

All this to say you just never know how it’s all going to play out. No needless suffering over here. If I want it, Imma gonna have it. Live for the moment, just do it, enjoy it, no regrets, insert all the cliches.

And it’s totally how I am justifying this amazing plain-old-for-no-good-reason Monday Margarita!