"There is a limit to enjoyment, throught he sources of wealth be boundless; And the choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation." - Martin Farquhar Tupper, Proverbial Philosophy (Taken from January 2012 Issue of Real Simple)
Yes, I'm just now getting around to reading this issue. And yes, page 7 is as far as I've gotten before I saw that quote and decided to grace the intrawebs with my online presence.
I thought that quote fitting since the season of Lent is among us. You may have heard many people talk about giving things up for lent: soda, candy, fast food, alcohol....I said that I would give up soda....then realized that it was on my list to cut back....even after going 3 days without it prior to my statement.
Sometimes it takes weeks, months or even years before something someone has said to me strikes me or actually registers. This time it was a conversation with my doctor when she was inquiring about my soda drinking habits in an attempt to find foods/beverages I could cut out to help me lose weight. Here where I work, they only serve soda in the 20 oz bottles. I told my doctor as much. She said that one of those 20 oz bottles of soda a day equates to 25 POUNDS of sugar a year (which I did the math....equates to about 12.5 pounds in a year.....forget about blaming breakups on weight gain in college...it was my 3 sometimes 4 a day mountain dew habit that did me in!!) Not exactly sure when it was last week when this kicked in, but at some point I realized "I'd rather EAT my calories than drink them" and I can proudly say that I met my "1 soda a week" goal last week - Friday was the only day I had soda. Sadly this revealation also made me take a look at my Starbucks habit - trips to the starbucks IN the hospital or on my way to work add up to more calories than a soda. So I also proudly admit that I only had Starbucks ONCE last week. I also met my goal of eating out less than 3x (twice to be exact). ALSO (I know, ANOTHER thing to admit?!) I kept a clear water bottle on my desk and drank one every day (that I was at work at least....I did however drink an entire nalgene bottle of water on Thursday) AND I walked 2 days last week for at least 30 minutes.
Whoever said some of the best things are in moderation was right. Too much candy and you get sick, too much and you don't appreciate the thing you craved so much. Maybe this is why I don't drink Mountain Dew anymore. I got tired of it.
Are you giving anything up for Lent? Is there something you overiindulged in that you no longer enjoy?
Love the title to your post. David was singing this song to me last week :P
ReplyDeleteI gave up book buying for Lent. I figured it was cheating to give up candy/soda/etc because I've already all but completely eliminated it from my diet. I had a vanilla ice cream cone at Jason's Deli last night, but that's as sugary and sweet as I've gotten.
And I can totally agree with your observation about moderating what you drink. Aside from Wednesday night dinners at Meridian when I drink lemonade and the occasional glass of juice, I've pretty much made the permanent switch to water. It's liberating!
Anyway, keep up the good work :)