Balancing Act

When I was a kid, my brother and I would sometimes make ourselves what we called, "The Breakfast Special" on a snow day or during spring break, etc. It consisted of a bowl of cereal of our choice, with a slice of "gourmet" cinnamon toast (the key is to put on the butter and cinnamon sugar and then broil it in the toaster oven), along with both hot chocolate and juice. It was our rendition of the cereal commercials we saw on TV. ("all part of a balanced breakfast!")

I am all about balanced eating. To me, this means not beating myself up over a not so healthy lunch or snack. I like to be able to go over what I've eaten during the day and see that my good and bad choices balance each other out. Today is such a striking example of that:

Lunch: salad with organic spinach and greens, feta cheese, lots of veggies, balsamic vinaigrette, and an almost unsweetened green iced tea.

Then it was off to do laundry and study, while one of our former housemates made Bisquick pancakes and a decadent chocolate cake. I licked a beater (yum!) and ate three fluffy pancakes with Earth Balance and fake syrup (first ingredient: corn syrup. Hey, at least it's not HFCS?). While doing laundry, we got a call from some friends who bought a coconut macaroon pie at a church pie auction. Did we want to help them eat it? Of course! We sat at our house and ate large slices of pie with decaf coffee and good conversation.

I like to think that my full-o-nutrients salad lunch balances out the fluffy, virtually nutrient-less pancakes and dense, sugary pie. I also like that I don't beat myself up over this. I am a generally healthy eater, but I still want room for pie and Bisquick in my life. And I just might have to recreate "The Breakfast Special" some day soon.