Sacrifice

I have made it very well-known on this blog that I have pretty specific fitness related goals. In order to achieve these goals, there are certain sacrifices that I have been willing to make.

I can go weeks without eating ice cream or cake (thankfully, I don't have to). I couldn't tell you the last time I had pasta. Fast food? It's been a long time. These things don't bother me. I've accepted them as specific things that, while enjoyable, do not need to be a part of my life on a consistent basis. Sure, I love chicken parmesan just as much as the next person, but I know what it'd do to my body if I ate it every week.

My lovely friend Brita recently posed the question of what wouldn't I give up during my quest to achieve my goals. Luckily, there isn't a whole lot that I "need" to give up. I'm pretty carb tolerant, so I allow myself a fair amount of them. I ascribe to the "good fats" theory, and eat plenty of whole fat milk, butter and cheese. (Cheese, by the way, is the one thing Brita will never give up. Cookies she can live without. But a world without cheese is not a world for her.) Coffee is not something that I have seen proven to be detrimental to your health or well-being. Peanut butter...on the edge. Some professionals would say not to eat it, but as long as you stick to all-natural stuff, you're ok. So? My answer?

In the words of Ben Franklin, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." I love beer. It's a beautiful thing. It tastes delicious and can make bad times into good times. Just like anything else that is good, beer can be over-done. It is, obviously, something that lots of people abuse and shouldn't be taken lightly. Personally, I don't do a lot of drinking anymore. I very rarely have a beer on weeknights, and don't drink to excess on the weekends. It's been written many times that alcohol affects your natural recovery systems (sleep being one of the big ones), it causes inflammation and muscle degradation as well. But I won't give it up. I'm not training for a bodybuilding show, I'm a pretty regular guy, and beer makes me happy.

What is something that you would never give up? Leave a comment!