This weekend proved itself successful already. Project “get dessert” last night went off without a hitch. I then followed it with project “have fun” today. Church potlucks and lunches with great friends always seem to bear the sign Satisfaction Guaranteed. I needed a little satisfaction after a busy week and tiring day.

Last night, we had a potluck dinner sponsored by the members of the Walk to Emmaus community in our church. Walk to Emmaus is a three day retreat meant to bring attendees closer in their relationships with God. Peter & I plan on going in November as it is highly recommended for church leaders and sounds like an experience worth having.

We began the night with a prayer and then food. Good food. I got a plate full of veggies with a small BBQ sandwich. Carrots, grape tomatoes, a bean/bell pepper/jalapeno/cilantro relish, veggie casserole, and salad dominated my dish.

I opted for mostly veggies to save room for the desserts. Not only did they have sweets, but they had THE sweet I crave.

Lemon pie. I ate mostly the filling and nibbled a small brownie and apple crumb bar. I think the sugar even gave me extra energy for the praise songs.

We also spent much of the night talking to friends and enjoying the sense of community in our church. I love these people!!

I also love Em! Today, after a Power workout at the gym, I met up with Em for lunch. We went to a new to us restaurant called The Tin Drum. They have various curries, noodle bowls, spring rolls, soups, and more. We had such a hard time deciding so we figured sharing a few top contenders would work best.

We got Thai Basil rolls with tamarind sauce..

…a veggie tempura plate with spicy thai chili sauce…

…and a masala curry dish that had chicken, cashews, carrots, potatoes, rice, and curry.

A perfect lunch. Neither of us could believe how good it was! And amidst our almost three hours of chatting we declared so numerous times. I always have the best time with Em and our lunch certainly satisfied my craving for a nice, relaxing, pleasant time today. We can talk for hours and hours. It seems like we’ve known each other forever and not just met through the blogging world a few short months ago. I just realized I don’t have a picture of the two of us from today. Next time we need to remember! Especially since we both have the baby bump going on. 😉

• What’s your favorite type of cuisine? Mine would be Mexican followed by any Asian/Thai.
• Do you like potlucks?
• Special thanks to Penny Lane – New Adventure into Eating & Life for putting up the button on her site!

Last night, we had a meeting at 6:30 at our church to discuss small group leadership. Instead of stressing myself out trying to cook a meal, finish it on time, and get us all fed and out the door quickly, I decided to stop for something on the way. Perhaps some Subway, a grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A, or Panera. In other words, the original plan involved a healthier dinner option on the fly. That did not happen.

Why? Well, simply because I wanted something different. I craved something very abnormal but could not deny it and figured I shouldn’t. That thing I hankered for so suddenly…

Oh boy! Peter finds it humorous that I get cravings for McDonalds randomly while pregnant. I do not eat it otherwise. I do not care to in the least. Yet for some reason during pregnancy (both times!) the salty, greasy, usually nasty food calls to me. Last night it happened. I will admit – at first I thought “I can’t go there!!”. And then when Peter asked jokingly if I would dare to share it on the blog, my gut instinct answered “maybe you wouldn’t have to”.

I snapped myself out of it quickly enough and thought why does it matter?! I shouldn’t deny myself for the sake of a label of “healthy” or “blogger”. I shouldn’t gloss over it for fear of what others think. I know for myself that I make balanced food choices. That I take care of my fitness. And that I love myself enough to respect cravings and not feel guilty about them.

In the past, I would have limited myself from having what I wanted. Then…I would have binged. If that didn’t happen, anxiety would overcome me and my mind would swirl with thoughts of food with no room for anything else. Now, I can eat something like McDs (very rarely mind you) and move on. I can simply eat the meal and not fret over it, living by example so M doesn’t feel that guilt eating certain things. I can head to a church meeting without guilt distracting me and focus on the topics at hand regarding my new role in developing a stronger community and bringing people closer to Christ in my church.  I can know without a doubt that the next day I will pick up where I left off and not feel I blew it and eat recklessly until the following Monday when I could “start fresh”.

Start the day off right with an oats, greek yogurt, honey pb, + dried cranberry/raisin/cherry mix.

Even though I will hit publish with a bit of nervousness, I drown it out by knowing - I can be me. I can be balanced. And I can still be healthy.

• Have you ever been nervous to hit publish? What post? Share a link if you like!
• What is something you like to eat or do that does not mesh with the standard definition of “healthy”? How do you feel “healthier” for allowing it?