I went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch today with my mom and my oldest daughter. We ordered our lunch and in the same breath asked questions about some of the cheesecakes we had salivated over in the case while we waited for our table. Our questions answered, we also ordered our pieces of cake that we would, by default, have after lunch. Let's just be real, who really goes to the Cheesecake Factory for the food? Our server said, "It only takes a minute to get your cheesecakes out so you want those after your lunch?" I immediately without thinking said, "Life is short." I looked at my oldest and she said, "Eat Dessert First." So I then looked at the server and said, "No, we will have our dessert first. Go ahead and bring us our cheesecake while we wait for our lunch." I can not ever remember ordering dessert first in a restaurant before. Yes, I have eaten a cookie before a meal or something sweet before dinner at home, but never ordered it first at a restaurant. I have to admit it was the most liberating thing EVER!! I felt free. Free from societal norms of the order of my meal courses, free from judgement of whether I needed the calories or not, free to make a decision on the spur of the moment and just go with it. Free.
As I waited the few minutes it took to get my cheesecake to the table, I began to think of my sweet Zoe, my puppy I just lost, and how she did not get her hand fed breakfast before she died last Friday. I thought about the lady that told me years ago to make a quilt now if I want to because when I have time when my kids are older, I may not want to make a quilt. I thought about our dog who had to be put down several years ago, who had terrible food allergies and couldn't be fed table scraps, and how I had fed him roast and carrots and mashed potatoes before I took him to the vet to be put to sleep. I thought of stories of last moments people have had with loved ones and what they said as a final statement. Then I thought of others who didn't get a chance to say a last statement. Life is short. Too short. I am all about watching what I eat, taking care of myself, running, etc, but I am never going to miss an opportunity to enjoy myself. So why not eat dessert first? If that is what I really went to the Cheesecake Factory for then why would I wait for my lunch first?? An impulsive decision at a restaurant today has been on my mind all day.
I remember at one point in my life when I was putting weight back on, again, I realized I was trying to curb my sweet tooth by eating strawberries. Then a small amount of time later I was eating what I really wanted in the first place. So in reality, I had more calories than necessary because I could have skipped the strawberries, had a small portion of what I really wanted and had less calories than eating a bunch of strawberries then a helping of what I really wanted. Eat what you really want first. It is freeing. Freeing from added unnecessary calories even if the extra calories are from healthy foods. You can make yourself fat from eating healthy foods if your portions are too large.
Impulsive decision today. Life changing repercussions for me. For the better. From now on, I am skipping societal norms placed upon me. If I want the cake first then so be it. Life is too short and calories are too many to be eating what we "need" to eat first then what we want to eat last. We are setting ourselves up to overeat if we do what society deems to be "normal" eating habits. Eat what you want, just not a lot of it.
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Jennifer
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