Well as most people know the Super Bowl was this past Sunday. It set a world record for viewership with 111 million viewers. The previous record holder was last year's Super Bowl with about 107 million. Before that the record holder had been the series finale of M*A*S*H* with 63 million people in 1983. Even before that (just to give some perspective) the most watched event in American history was the cliffhanger 'Who Shot JR?' episode of Dallas in 1980.
I watched the game while I wrote a lecture on Polish Americans for my class. The game was not that interesting- it's no secret that the Steelers did not play as well as anticipated. Commercials were okay. Half-time show, while energetic, not earth shattering. Overall, I give this game a 'meh' for entertainment because it just could not live up to all of the hype, despite the surprise appearances of both Slash and Usher.
The single thing I had been looking forward to most was the food. I mean, for about ten days before the Super Bowl I kept thinking to myself 'Today I can stay in my calorie ranges and it will all be worth it because on Super Bowl Sunday I am going to get Barnaby's pizza and wings!!!' I mean I was rocked out stoked about this. I love Barnaby's pizza and wings. It is easily my favorite casual restaurant in Tallahassee and the fact that it looks a lot like the inside of a pirate ship is only part of it- the food is really good.
So come Sunday and I eat on plan all day (I mean this is not a all-day calorie event, this is just for the game). I go for a jog. I go home and order my food and then drive all the way across town, because of course this is the kind of place that doesn't deliver, and fork over my $18.65 and leave with food that I had been anticipating for more than a week. I get home, feed the pets, set myself up with game the on, a huge glass of water, and commence the eating. It's delicious. I mean, really, great. Exactly what I had been waiting for and the taste and texture totally lived up to the hype in my mind.
And then I got full.
What the heck? After only three wings and three tiny squares of pizza (Barnaby's doesn't sell pizza in trianglular slices, but in small squares) I was full.
Ladies and gentlemen this really ticked me off! I mean, I had been planning on this calorie fest for almost two weeks! I kept to my four 400 calorie meals with dilegence knowing that in the end I would get to eat pizza and wings without feeling guilty at all.
'But Elizabeth, just put that food in the fridge and enjoy it tomorrow!'
Can't do that. There's no way to fit B's pizza into 400 calorie meals so if I do that then I have two days off of plan.
So for the next three hours of the game and into the overly advertised follow-up episode of GLEE I ate. I made myself eat. I finished those wings. I tried to eat the pizza but just couldn't. Even as I was doing this I didn't feel good, I felt uncomfortable, I felt frustrated, and once it got cold it didn't taste as good as it did when I first opened the boxes. I was so angry! In times past eating B's pizza and wings would have been an awesome, tasty, pleasurable, completely enjoyable experience and I feel robbed of this! I feel like someone took something away from me that I love and made it this pathetic, self-punishing event. What I had been looking forward to for days just could not live up to my expectations and it wasn't because the food wasn't good but it was because I couldn't eat as much of it as I wanted to, that I had planned to.
What do I do now? Will food lose its pleasure for me? That makes me sad as previously food had been this amazing thing that I enjoyed. I didn't just enjoy the tastes and textures, I loved the act of eating, of chewing, of feeling full, of celebrating in a large meal. Now, I may not be able to do this anymore.
That doesn't mean that I won't try later, because let's face it, large delicious, rich meals are real events to me and I may try to keep loving them for awhile before I am able to walk away from them.
This was not a change I was ever expecting and I am just not sure how to handle it yet.
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1 comment:
hmmm... it seems to me like this would be a good thing, right? like your body is adjusting to healthier food or smaller portions or something? i'm no health nut, and i'm all for good, greasy food (love me some barnaby's, by the way), but maybe this is a sign that you're doing the right thing, and that your body is adjusting to the better way you're taking care of it?
just a thought from a pretty non-nutritious person. :) maybe this is something you should be proud of!
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