Enjoying it while I can

A girl in my office was just talking about how she doesn't eat beef or fried foods. She's 24. She's a very healthy eater -- kudos to her for that.

At the same time, I'm 23 years old. I'm 5'9" or 5'10"-ish, and my metabolism probably isn't ever going to get any higher than it is right now. I think it's already slowed since high school, but I'm still thin.

I go to the gym. But I don't worry so much about what I eat. A year ago, though, I ate pizza literally 3 times a week. I didn't ever consume anything that said "diet" -- why eat something that's bound to taste disgusting?

Since K, I eat better. He's not the world's healthiest eater, but he's pretty dang healthy. Now, thanks to him, I drink Coca-Cola Zero. I drink Diet Lipton Green Tea (with citrus flavor!) from time to time. I pay attention to labels that say "Light" and "Zero grams trans fat."

Granted, I still think the double chocolate fudge chunk ice cream in my freezer is healthy because it says "Light" and "Zero grams trans fat" and even "1/3 fewer calories than regular ice cream." I still eat pizza three times a week every two or three weeks.

But the thing is, I don't eat much of the ice cream when I eat it. I eat it out of the tub because it's only me who eats it anyway. If I were to put ice cream in a bowl, I'd put a lot in there. But when I eat it right out of the tub, I don't eat as much. I've broken into my tub 3 or 4 times and, combined, had less than what I would have put in a bowl in one serving. It's all about portion control. Lucky for me, I have a small stomach that has always been filled quickly, which also means it needs filled more frequently.

I had a turkey burger last Sunday for dinner, but it was only because I realized as I was cooking it that my BEEF hamburger patty had a black spot on it that made it seem like a bad idea to eat it. I'm sure it's much better to go to a place that offers soy burgers instead of Fuddruckers, with its wonderfully delicious, greasy cheeseburgers.

But we only live once. I'm sure I'm lucky to not care about labels and eliminating beef from my diet. At the same time, why sweat the small stuff? Like I said, I'm 23, and my metabolism isn't going to get any higher.