My demise: social eating

The end of this week was a brutal couple of days on the “let’s not be fat” program. It started with Cinco de Mayo. My friend, Michael, and I got together for this truly American holiday. I knew I was in trouble when Mike proposed that we go to Chipotle for dinner. Seemed to make perfect sense: Mexican food on a Mexican holiday.

“You know you could get a salad,” Mike told me with a half-smile on his face.

Right. I’m also going to drink water at a bar.

If I’m going to Chipotle, I’m getting a burrito, diet be damned. I remember when I was in college, my friend Joe faced the same conundrum. Being on Weight Watchers, a Chipotle burrito with guacamole was 34 points, an entire day’s worth of food for Joe. It didn’t stop him from getting his burrito and it sure didn’t stop me either.

After dinner, Mike and I went out drinking. I was perfectly content to drink rum and cokes or vodka-sprites in order to avoid high-calorie beer. That changed immediately when I saw that the bar had a beer-pong table. Not a table used for beer-pong. An actual beer-pong table. Four games (and one aforementioned rum and coke) later, I was feeling pretty good.

Both of us woke up the next morning feeling pretty miserable. Of course, the only solution for a hangover is a greasy good, and Mike recommended the perfect solution: a place called The Habit, a burger joint. The thing came loaded with two patties, two slices of cheese, caramelized onions, and avocado. This was a heart attack in a bun and it was delicious. It was the first fast-food hamburger I’ve had that could give In-N-Out a run for its money.

The food fest continued while I watched Game 4 of the Sharks-Red Wings series. Not only did our hosts put out dinner, but they also put out such healthy appetizers as salami, cheese, and a bowl of guacamole big enough to drown in. Figuring my dieting for the last twenty-four hours had been on hold, I didn’t hold back.

My weekend of gluttony ended on Saturday with my friend Matt at the Berryessa Art and Wine Festival. I spent the afternoon drinking one of the most delicious red zins I’ve ever had in my life. The wine wasn’t so bad for me; the pizza that followed did me in.

This is my demise. This will be my demise throughout this process. When I’m by myself, I am a model dieter. I eat well and I exercise like a maniac. But when I’m with friends, things go downhill quickly. I eat poorly, drink excessively, and don’t work out. This is not to say I’m blaming my friends for my weight – that would be downright irresponsible. It’s just so much harder to be healthy when I’m with my friends.