This weekend, my husband and I spent the weekend with some friends in Tampa. I’ve probably not mentioned it before, but we’re craft beer aficionados. The local brewery in Tampa, Cigar City Brewing, was having a celebration in honor of the release of limited bottles of a Hunahpu, a delicious, complex, and decadent stout that they brew and age with cacao nibs.

So, we left Orlando early on Friday afternoon and stayed the night in Tampa, spending the entire day at the brewery on Saturday.

While we had an awesome time and got to sample dozens of rare and unique beers, my diet took a back seat for a solid 24 hours. Food trucks were lined up at the event, selling every fried, fatty, porcine vittles possible to an inebriated audience of 5,000+ people.

Why is food, especially BAD food, so closely intertwined with events?

Do we have to gorge on unhealthy things every time we’re happy, celebrating, or otherwise being entertained?

There were a few healthy options at the event, but they ran out quickly. The one truck boasting healthy sandwiches ran out of 99% of their “fresh” ingredients within an hour and was pumping out only breaded chicken tenders and french fries for the majority of the event.

My Saturday menu consisted of:

At the event —

• A Dunkin Donuts veggie eggwhite flatbread [my attempt at a healthy breakfast before the event started.]
• A vanilla nonfat, sugar free latte.
• Three munchkins. [They were staring at me, taunting.]
• At least 10 samples [2 oz pours or less] of heavy, craft beers. My guess would be 100-200 calories per sample.
• A slice of cheese pizza.
• An empanada that was so greasy, I could have cooked an omelette in the pool of oil left on my plate.
• Deep-fried broccoli and cheddar “bites.” Something quasi-healthy made irrevocably unhealthy in one moment.

After the event [I’d already blown my diet, anyhow]:

• Some curry laska soup.
• Several bites of pad thai.
• A heaping serving of basil fried rice.
• Sauteed bak choy.
• Two coconut fried shrimp.
• A bottle of beer.

So, needless to say, I was feeling pretty bad about my diet and eating habits by the end of the day. While I had a BLAST at the event and enjoyed dinner with several friends in the evening, I wish that I had better control of my diet and impulses to eat badly when in the company of others.

I’m so regimented and controlled on my own.

Why does company – and celebration – break down my resolve?

I hope to post a video blog later this evening to explore this concept a bit deeper.

Until then, bon appetit!

~ Tori