In Honour of Fat Tuesday...

So I haven't done a "let's get real" post in a while, but on the weekend I met up some of realest, most amazing, kick ass women of all time. And yes, I know "realest" isn't a word, but you will skip past that and continue reading. I met up with the beautiful and talented makeup artist Angie DiBattista on Friday, my hilarious girlfriends on Saturday, and the lovely and sassy Laura from Scribbles and Sass and Emily from Spare Change in my Back Pocket on Monday. We drank, we ate, we laughed a TON, and we talked REAL. It's so easy to have a mask in the blog world, but I want to assure you peeps, that I do not have one.

Perhaps I should have one here. Emily made me a brownie topped with a marshmallow. RI DIC.

First of all, I want to say that I am thrilled that you are here. I am humbled beyond belief that I have more than my Mom and a fake account my Mom created following my blog. And I hope that I have never made you feel that you can't do anything and aren't good enough, because you can and you are. But I can't tell you how often I go to other people's blogs and see that they have a teaspoon of Nutella or a square of dark chocolate and have a serious freak attack about it, blog about it, and have people comment over and over again "It's okay! You'll get right back at it!" or "We all slip sometimes!"

Do these people seriously feel bad about themselves after a square of dark chocolate or a scoop of Nutella? No offense meant to those peeps, but if that was me, I would feel amazing that 1. I chose dark chocolate over the mass amounts of milk that I eat and 2. that I chose Nutella over melting a chocolate bar on my toast, only to add bacon and cheese and call it a meal.

Don't get me wrong, I eat clean... pretty much all the time. Alright. Well that's a lie. But most of the time. Honestly, about 75% of the time. I do find it rather unnerving, however, that as a "healthy living blogger" (picture Dr. Evil saying that with his air quotes) I feel guilty about my own meals based on the tiny portions I see on other sites. The guilt lasts about five seconds, but it's still there.

Then, I get over it and fist pump myself.

 Yesterday, I ate oatmeal for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch, had a pint of beer with the ladies, ate a brownie that Emily gave me, and ordered pizza for dinner. I had about 4 handfuls out of the KILOGRAM of Mini Eggs that my husband bought me for Valentine's, and I drank diet Coke.

Individual mac n' cheese and olive penguins. Brilliant.

Now THIS I'll take pics of.

Here's your shout out, Edna!

This was the day after I had poutine and mac n' cheese for dinner.

I realize that I promote fitness and all-around healthy living on this blog, but I also believe that healthy living is just what is says- a LIFESTYLE in which should not mean being tied to a calorie counter. I am not a fitness model or bodybuilder, and while I admire the commitment and dedication it takes, I myself could not live in extreme deprivation.

Best blondes ever.

So what do I do when I indulge? I enjoy, then work. Today I got up, did a 30 for 30 workout, ran 2 beep tests with my kids, and I will eat clean. I recognize that eating like I've suggested above is not normal, but I will not feel guilty about it seeing as it happens once every weekend in a blue moon. I will not stay home while my friends go out for dinner because I'm scared of the menu. I will not let a diet run my life. In fact, I do not diet for this reason. I never have, and I never will. You can always make choices- you do every day- and some days will be better than others. It's how you handle them that will make the difference in your own journey to healthy living.

Again, no disrespect meant to other peeps out there, and I do salute you for having such crazy willpower. I'd just like to think I represent the rest of the population that chooses to treat themselves with more than a sniff of a cupcake.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat a square of dark chocolate and a spoonful of Nutella and feel f#@!ing amazing about myself.

What do you allow yourself to indulge in? Do you ever feel guilty?