The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life.
- The Bare Necessities, Disney's The Jungle Book
If you've spent any time around me, you know I do this weird thing where I say "That's so necessary" when I take a bite or sip of something that I really needed. The first cup of coffee of the day... the first sip of an icy diet coke on a hot day... any type of food when my blood sugar is crashing. Sometimes you are just jonesing for something and need to satisfy your craving (like me with chocolate... all the time lol.)
I think of these things as the bare necessities, the stuff I could not live without. Just try separating me from my diet coke, I dare you. Of course I am talking about superficial things, not the basic necessities of life like medical care, clean water, food, shelter, and safety that I believe everyone should have clear access to.
However, not all of my cravings mesh with my newly super healthy lifestyle (in fact, none of them do.) If I let my cravings take over, I'd be stuffing my body with comfort food aka all carbs and that's just not acceptable. So I squash those cravings down as long as I can until they threaten to erupt and I can't deny them any longer.
This weekend I headed out to Kingston with my brother to visit some friends. I usually pack food for the car to nom on (correction: my mother usually packs food for the car) but this time we just hit the road with the intention of getting road food along the way. If you've ever driven down the 401, you'll know that all of the roadside stops have at least one burger franchise in them (when they aren't under construction), whether it be McDonalds or Arbys. Now 49 times out of 50, I can walk by a McDonald's without batting an eyelash. But that 50th time? Look out because I need that Quarter Pounder with fries and a diet coke like whoa... like whoa. Luckily I can hold my McD's fixation to 3 or 4 times a year, which is pretty good under the circumstances. But there is something so satisfying about that burger patty with loads of melty cheese, followed by crispy fries and washed down with syrupy soda. I'm loving it indeed! Suffice it to say Neil and I picked up McDs on our way to Kingston. It was fast, it was efficient and it was delicious.
Please don't think that I am advocating the mass consumption of McDonald's or its fast-food contemporaries. Even based on my minute knowledge of their caloric content and mechanized meat factories, I know I should be avoiding that place if at all possible and excluding this past weekend's Quarter Pounder munch fest, I think I'm pretty good at it.
But sometimes, it has to happen. I'm going to eat that so-bad-for-me burger.
Luckily my friend Julie, who I was staying with, saved my sanity and my health with some delicious vegetarian friendly cuisine when I got to her place so I was able to grab some balance on the weekend. Despite our Eggs Florentine failure, everything worked out quite well.
To sum up the rambles, I feel there are certain things in life unique to each person that help them maintain a constant sense of balance and wellbeing. For my friend Julie, those bare necessities would be things like yoga, her cat Ernie and a delicious vegetarian lasagna (lol.) For my brother Neil, those would include beers with buds, cute girls and someone to joke around with.
Then there are those things that, while aren't necessary to your daily life, need to be indulged in every once in a while. From personal experience, I find you are a lot less likely to binge on something if you don't completely cut yourself off from it. Indulge sometimes, it's good for the soul.
Coming soon, my DIY experiment #1.
Until then, look for the bare necessities,
Lisa
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