Is It Going To Kill You?

It is going to kill you to have one glass of wine? Is it going to kill you to put a sugar cube in your coffee or maybe real cream? Is it going to kill you to quit the calorie counting or dieting yak in front of others? The answer is, it won't! There is a thing today where Google or your favorite other, tells you what to eat and do and you do it. For no particular reason at all. Here's a tiny piece of advice; just because the topic gets a million hits, doesn't necessarily make it real or true. Get over that stupidity. If you think that popularity stats will get you anywhere, recall your high school graduation and how far the recipients of the honored state of elected valedictorian went. They are or were the kids thought to have it all. They got the honours, the looks, the awards, the marks and the notice, but the day after the big grad event, life came along. While at school, the vallies likely turned down a lot, thinking it might "kill them" during their pleasant school days when they were the icons of the wannabes.  When they hung up the tux and gown to hit the real world, none of that high school jazz meant anything.  And it still doesn't. But reverberating still, are echoes of "oh, I can't eat that" or "oh no, I can't order this" or "I'm on a diet" or "that's a no no" or "I mustn't indulge" or "it's not on my list" or "does it have carbs in it?" We're not in the school cafeteria, but in a lovely restaurant with a fine reputation. Let's eat!  The other day, I lunched with someone very nice and when the seafood order was given, I asked for a Chardonnay and got the fish eye from my companion. "What?" I asked. She simpered."You drink wine for lunch?" "Yep, it's quite civilized to have white wine with seafood." I felt defensive. Six ounces of wine, does not an alcoholic make. But I felt as though my friend thought it did. Now, I was oozing guilt. Yikes, one tiny glass of white makes me a sinner? When coffee time rolled around after the light chocolate mousse disappeared, I plunked into my coffee, two cubes of brown sugar.  Oogly oogled at me again. I started, "What? You don't eat sugar either?" She smiled. "Oh no, I am counting calories on my cell and my carb limit will hit the sky if I have it in my decaff. Hand over the packet of the white stuff. " I didn't groan until now. I liked my lunch friend. But really. It wouldn't kill her to drop in a lump of natural sugar even if it is into decaf that is, incidentally,  processed to pieces in its process. Look it up. We got through lunch but one of us, me, suffered post-lunch-guilt. Next time I shall choose a partner who enjoys lunch out. I want to concentrate on the sheer enjoyment of what I select and not be forced to sit in front of a lovely plate of fresh, well-prepared food to see my companion pushing all the good stuff to the side of her plate. This slender, suffering lunch companion will not have to witness my "over indulgences" again.  It wouldn't kill her, or me, to simply eat. It's only lunch out.