How Many More Times?

Although I'm hearing an awesome Led Zeppelin song in my head, the title of this post is not referring to my love doing me wrong.  No, it's about... you guessed it... food.  (Well, the more I think about it, maybe this post is about my love doing me wrong lol.)

Sunday was a day that revolved around family and eating.  I made brunch for my mama and it was Paleo and delicious.  Dinner with Dave's family was a different story.  Throughout the evening I managed to drink an entire bottle of white wine to the face.  Finishing dinner with a giant piece of cherry cheesecake certainly didn't help anything.  My evening ended with a huge swollen tummy and a belly ache.  Shocking, I know.

But wait... didn't I just do this last weekend?  Cinco de Mayo, which involved a total of 2 pina coladas and 2 beers (aka not really all that much), left me feeling like complete crap on Monday despite getting 9.5 hours of sleep Sunday night.  I literally had a headache the entire day and thought, ugh I cannot do this to myself.

So how many more times can I put myself through the same thing before I learn?  I don't want to wake up feeling craptastic after getting 9.5 hours of sleep... that's just silly!  I don't want to lay in my bed unable to fall asleep because my stomach feels like it's going to explode.  So, why is this so hard?

Well, because booze is fun and Dave's mom's desserts are (almost) worth the tummy ache.  But there's a difference between having a glass of wine and drinking the whole bottle.  And there's a difference between having a taste of dessert and purposely picking out the biggest piece that was cut.  I desperately need to find a balance!

Ugh.  I really want to stop talking about food fails!  Honestly, most of the time I am making awesome food choices and I feel great.  But when I fail, it's epic and my body lets me know just how it feels about it.

Do you ever eat or drink things that you know will make you feel bad afterwards?  How do you handle treats?

Keepin' It Real

I know I've been posting a lot about Paleo and cleaning up your diet, but I want to let you know that although I do think it's good to be strict sometimes, it's also good to splurge!

What I ate today:

• Breakfast - 2 cups of black coffee, way too many chocolate covered coffee beans that were in the kitchen at work
• Lunch - Leftover Mexican from last night's dinner out, steak and shrimp with onions peppers and mushrooms covered in a white cream (possibly mayo) based salsa with some carrot sticks that I also dipped in the sauce
• Dinner - Will be leftovers from Saturday night's dinner out, a crab cake over rice in red curry sauce with carrots

Did I eat 100% Paleo?  Nope!  I had chocolate, cream, bread crumbs in the crab cake, some rice...  But did I make healthier choices than I could have?  I skipped tortillas that are typically a staple in any Mexican meal.  I also avoided the rice and beans that came with my meal.  Why waste stomach space on those when I had plenty of tasty steak, shrimp, and veggies?  I'd also like to note that today is kind of a splurge day in general, because I'm not usually eating restaurant leftovers as the majority of my daily intake!

I am not perfect, nobody is.  I ate froyo twice this past week.  Was that a healthy choice?  Ummmm no (and writing that makes me realize maybe I need to reel it in a bit).  But I believe in the recommendation from Mark's Daily Apple... eat healthy 80% of the time and let loose 20% of the time!  For me, the 80/20 principle means if I'm cooking at home, I'm trying to keep it as Paleo as possible, but if I'm going out for a special occasion and I want something noncompliant I don't feel guilty.

I am not obsessed with every morsel going into my mouth, because I know I eat healthy enough on a regular basis that the 20% is not going to make or break my gut health or my efforts to maintain my weight.  The question you should ask yourself is are you finding an 80/20 balance or are you closer to 50/50 or worse?  Are processed foods and excess sugar a special treat or a regular option?

Do you follow the 80/20 principle or something similar?