On Health And Date Night

Back in the "babywait" days I used the excuse that we were anxious and waiting therefor deserved to indulge in the occasional (or frequent...) high calorie meal. My weaknesses:

*Plates of fried chicken (buffalo, spicy, battered, and dripping with hot sauce)
*Cheese
*Anything dipped in cheese
*Anything with cheese as a topping

But hey, I was babywaiting, so it was ok! So now what's my excuse? I blame butter. Pre-Ashton days we were very strict olive oil and nonfat cooking spray users, and pretty much everything (other than olive oil) was purchased in the fat free version. With a one year old, however, things have obviously had to change - because he actually needs fat. I haven't quite hammered out the details of how I can cook healthy meals for Ashton that include the "real" ingredients (butter, full fat dairy products, etc...) while still maintaining a healthy diet for myself (nonfat sprays, light or fat free everything) so to help the process along... we joined the gym. Thankfully I have weaknesses in this area as well:

*Angelina Jolie
*Jonny Depp
*Childcare for the cost of a cup of coffee

Some might wonder how these three items could be considered gym "weaknesses" and why I'm actually thankful for them. Well, our gym has a room called Cinema Cardio where there are a bunch of treadmills, eliptical machines, and bikes stationed in front of a giant movie screen. They show high action flicks that don't require headphones so that you can sweat to the likes of Angelina Jolie and Jonny Depp. If I had to list the top two images that would inspire me to work just a little bit harder it would definitely be those two. Last weekend they showed Tomb Raider and I swear the fight scene where Anglina swings from a bungee cord while beating off an entire team of intrudors logged my fastest running speed yet. And then there's the gym's almost-free childcare so that while mom and dad are being reminded of the exact location of every musscle in our body our sweet child can spend some time jumping off the walls in a neon color foam padded room. He wins.

Tonight we're taking him swimming, because quite frankly no amount of Angelina or Jonny could possibly override the stinging pain caused by "first weekend back at the gym and I'm in PAIN" syndrome.

On another note, with the economy in the tank and a very busy two months ahead with birthdays and holidays we decided the most fiscally responsible way to prepare would be to hire a babysitter and go on a date. My goal is that I'll have put in enough hours at the gym by date night to fit into an outfit from my pre-butter days, so that we can then go to a restaurant where there will inevitably be... lots of butter.