March Madness

...an affectionate term for the flurry basketball tournaments leading up to and including the NCAA championship. While I enjoy this sports themed time of year, March includes a whole different kind of madness for me.

Between March 10 and March 20, we have 4 birthdays in my family(me 3/10, mother-in-law 3/15, Katie 3/16, and Alaric 3/20). I don't know what all of you do with your families on b-days, but we eat.

Yesterday was my birthday (If you have not sent a gift, late arrivals will be accepted) and after a healthy breakfast-in-bed of eggs, turkey sausage, and a banana, I still did my ab and strength workout. Then I was given such a wonderful treat, I went for an hour and a half bike ride on the new Felt Z85 (it was so incredible, but I will have more about this in a later post). When I got back home my mom had arrived and she brought a huge pan of homemade, from-scratch brownies. She used to make these for almost every birthday when I was a kid. They are to die for, so I had two. I could have eaten quite a few more, but I was trying to be conscious of how much I was eating. After we picked Alaric up from pre-school, Katie took me out to eat for lunch, and it is my birthday so I decided to indulge and I had a burger and fries. I didn't eat all of it, but I ate most of it (and it was gooood!). We then went to Bloomington and went to a museum and wine shop; they were incredibly enjoyable. Then for a finale, Katie took me to Destihl, http://www.destihl.com/. We got a personal tour of the brewery from the assistant brewmaster, sampled about 6 different beers, and then we sat down for dinner. We had an appetizer, sampled 5 more beers plus another pint, had entrees (the sea bass special was amazing)and a free dessert, because again it was my birthday.

In all I probably consumed about 5000 calories. Thank God I went for that bike ride, but we have 3 more birthday celebrations in the next 9 days. On Sunday we have a brunch to celebrate all 4 birthdays in March, then Katie has her birthday on Tuesday, and Alaric's is next Saturday. To top it all off, next Sunday we are all going to Chicago to celebrate with some friends and more family. How is one supposed to lose any weight when one has so much to celebrate? Sure, I can try and limit my indulgences, but I do not want to be disrespectful either. I would love to work out a little more, but who has the time when you are so preoccupied with eating? Do I just throw in the towel and pick up the pieces after the celebrations are all over? I am reaching out to anyone reading this post, please tell me how to make it through this gauntlet of food.