I completely understand the concept of moderation in all things. I just don't understand that concept as it applies to me. Not only am I a typical Scorpio (ocd, passionate, determined & single minded/laser focused when I want/like/love something), but I am also just me. The girl who usually gets her way with little to no overt attempts to do so. I'm a product of the life I have been leading for these last 28yrs on the planet Erff. I rarely get told no, things usually work out in my favor and I tend to get away with doing whatever I want. To my detriment, I am so used to this happening in my life, I have come to expect it. Or at the very least I become greatly confused when things don't go my way. Bad news & a recipe for inevitable disappointment or a big fat reality check made out in my name.
That got a bit tangenty, sorry... here is my point: I have a hard time balancing the scales that contain in my life. Love, family, friends, work, drinking, exercising, free time, social activities: you name it. I am @ one extreme or the other. Excess, excess, excess; all the time. I had stopped drinking about 7mths ago, mostly for diet/weight loss reasons. Partying was the majority of how I spent my free time prior to January 2010 and it was becoming a big problem for various reasons. By combining a sans alcohol lifestyle with a strict exercise and food regimen, I lost a good amount of poundage. I did miss beer & my friends though. Now that I'm at a (mostly) happy spot in my fitness related goals I have come back from the dark side and added hoppy goodness back into the fold.
I am truly a person who in her heart, craves having it all. I think moderation is necessary for this because I've come to a point where there are literally not enough hours in the day to have and do it ALL. And I hardly sleep as it is! So although this particular rant has little to do with beer consumage, I am trying (and failing miserably) to point out that you can both eat and drink in moderation and still lose weight and be healthy. I was dating a man who had me convinced this was incorrect, led me to give up beer 100% and scoffed at the idea of me being a full time vegetarian. Except one time when he 'allowed' me to have a Coors Light and I looked at him and said "Thanks but I'd rather drink water than that crap. I still have some fucking standards." Granted he did serve his purpose in keeping me on the straight and narrow with my eating and exercise; thnx dude.
I feel more like myself again now that I can consume a delicious hopped up brew. I can train for a triathlon & spend most of my free time at the gym, stay a happy vegetarian while still drinking what I wish. Will be feverishly trying to fit in all my other passions and pursuits along the way. I can, and will, have it all. Why blame beer? If you are living in excess, the problem is you. Trust me on this one, I know. I am the only person who consistently gets in my own way and I no longer require anyone else to tell me how to not do that.
Take care of yourself, live how you want, follow your heart. If you like beer, fucking drink some beer. Just pass on the chocolate cuppie cake or run an extra few laps if you want to drink more than a few. Check out this hilarious article by the Beer Bitch, a writer for the Northwest Brewing News paper. She inspired this rant of mine so I painstakingly typed it all up for your enjoyment. I hope it tickles you as much as it did me.
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Why Blame the Beer? by the Beer Bitch
"Ahh-the dog days of summer: fantastic beer, good food. These are indeed the days, my friend. So while I perch my hot pink tipped peds on the rail of Casa De Bitch's deck, sipping a very nice double hopped IPA, I can't help but ponder the bad rap beer gets.
But alas, I almost forgot my super attire. My demure styling starts with Daisy Dukes and an itty-bitty tanker (it's summer, and not much else is needed). There's a frosty home brew to my right and my number one minion to my left to answer my bidding. The golden tresses are piled atop my head in a mass of half hazard curls. My minion is rubbing my feet as I dictate this article to my latest not taker (who has yet to achieve true minion status.)
But I digress. Why do people blame their girth on beer? Could it be a portion of the cause of weight gain? I'll give you that. But have you stopped to take a look at what you are shoving down your gullet as you sip the swill you call home brew? Never mind that you are chowing down a 16-oz. steak with a baked potato, sour cream and cheese, or that this meal was primed by consuming an entire bag of potato chips and half a box of Oreo cookies first. No, that's not where your calories come from, you say. It's the beer!
But surely, your wide girth can't be from the light beer you love to consume! The big boys claim only 64 calories, the Bud man, 108, yet this is what you blame for your disproportionate belly. If you want to think so, be my guess. Heaven knows your home brew should ( I say, should) have more flavor than the urine-yellow water of the light beers, and yes, a few more calories, too. As for me, i would rather have a great tasting beer and a hundred more calories than to have to choke down any light beer at all.
What we have lost sight of is portion control in this country. The aforementioned 16-oz. steak is enough meat for four (4) portions for adults! You also don't need a potato the size of Idaho with a gallon of sour cream and a pound of cheese on top. And so you finish your meal that would feed an entire third-world household with a beer or two to wash it down.
One day you wake up and realize, although you are standing up, you have no idea if your shoes match or not. (Let me explain this for the befit of those whose brains may have also become obese: you are too fat to see your own feet) Time to go on a diet! And what's the first thing you cut out? The beer!
God forbid you would reduce your caloric intake down to a healthy level, or get your over sized butt off the sofa and maybe get some exercise. Maybe play with your kids in the yard, throw a ball for your dog or take your significant other for a walk?
Like the making of good beer, there is no quick way to lose weight. Both take time (and discipline). If you want to be thinner, take life (food and beer) in moderation. For each additional 3,500 calories you take in , you'll gain a pound. But the opposite is also true: cut back by 3,500 and you'll lose a pound. Occasionally in life, even the Beer Bitch has to compromise. No, I'm not willing to give up my evening libation, but I am willing to walk a couple extra miles, go for a bike ride, or do an extra hour of yoga. I do this so I can consume what I want, when I want- in moderation.
So are you listening, my lowly home brewer? (Do you ever listen to me?) Unfortunately we, as Americans, often live up to the way that those in many other countries view us, as fat and lazy. If you consider stirring your wort to be a workout, think again. You want to be able to drink that second beer and not feel guilty (not that you have ever felt guilty - after all, you think your beer is actually drinkable, which should make you feel very, very guilty) Pus the lawn mower instead of riding it, park your car at the far end of the parking lot and take the stairs instead of the elevator! Try that for a week or two and you might find by the time you get to the top of the third floor you aren't gasping for air, looking like a fish out of water. And you'll be ready for a beer, too.
So as you contemplate the deep abyss you call your navel, pick out the lint, get your butt off the sofa and go for a walk. Your beer - and your belly - will thank you for it. I have spoken."
"Why Blame the Beer?" by Beer Bitch. Northwest Brewing News. Aug/Sept 2010 Volume 9 #4
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