I went out with a bunch of friends to one of my FAVORITE restaurants. These guys use farmer's market ingredients, and have some of the most creative dishes ever. They even have a GOAT CHEESE, GORGONZOLA, ARUGULA, MUSHROOM, TRUFFLE OIL, THIN-CRUST PIZZA. That's right. You heard me correctly. When you eat this thing, angels sing, and your mouth has several consecutive sensory orgasms. It's a wild time. Despite the fact that it was great being able to hang out with everybody, I was so incredibly tempted by all the food. Not to mention that one of the great social lubricants is: WINE! I couldn't even have that! So when we went out to bars afterwards, I was "that sober guy". It was terrible. I don't usually drink to get drunk, but if you've ever been out in Venice or Santa Monica, you know that the Friday night bar crowd tends to be heavy on the "desperate 30-somethings wishing they were young" kind of people. Yikes. It's way more fun to have had a couple of drinks and to cut loose... Maybe this is a warning sign to me? Maybe I rely too much on alcohol to make those kinds of situations tolerable? Who knows.
Long story short, it was awesome to be with a bunch of friends for the night... but not so awesome to have to stare at my FAVORITE PIZZA IN THE WORLD and to not be able to have a few drinks in times of need. I'm working on the whole perseverance thing. Until now though, I'm feeling a bit fanatical and loserish. :-(
It's all in the name of experimentation!
Best,
Cliff
Ugh, that SUCKS! I'm not supposed to drink, either, on this P90X plan of mine, but I think Matt and I are going to break that rule tonight. A couple glasses of wine won't kill me, and three months is a long time...although, in the face of pizza and wine, I'm sure 3 weeks feels like a lifetime too! I hate that going out as a 20-something is so much LESS fun when not drinking. Sad but true.
ReplyDeleteAw Cliff, good work on the perseverance but don't be too tough on yourself. I work on the 80/20 rule. 80% good, 20% not so good, so you can allow yourself some treaties now and then. But good for you for sticking to your guns. Funny thing is when I was in Venice Beach/Santa Monica in 2005 I noticed that you guys don't really like to drink to get drunk like my country folk. Was quite impressed with the locals attitude to drinking. Either than or you guys just know how to hold your alcohol and us Aussies just get sloppy haha!
ReplyDeletePS Did you see Russell James' post on socialising here?
ReplyDeletehttp://therawchef.com/therawchefblog/how-raw-food-fits-into-my-social-life
Amber,
ReplyDeleteYeah going out and not drinking is a little bit tough. It would be much easier if I could at least enjoy some food with friends so I didn't feel AS awkward as not drinking AND eating. :-(
3 months no drinking??? Thank God you have Matt there. I'm sure that makes it easier. What's sad though is that I don't enjoy drinking over my limit. Being vegan makes me SUCH a light weight, and my tolerance has plummeted since my freshman year of school. I just miss being able to have a glass of wine at dinner.
Anyway... wah wah poor me hahaha I'll get over it.
Robyn,
ReplyDeleteI think the 80/20 rule is fantastic advice. I usually stick to those proportions in my regular raw foodness, but for some reason I felt the need to see what 100% really felt like. While i've usually been able to handle that for about 2 weeks max at a time, I wanted to stretch myself and see how I could handle a low glycemic raw diet. I'll let you know how it goes!
Australia is an amazing place. I went to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and the Hamilton Islands when I was a kid and I loved it. I feel like drinking is just a national hobby over there! You guys got more of the British influence I think... remember, America was founded by religious fanatics who couldn't make friends back home in England! (hahaha) The reason why Australia is such a party is that they were exiles... AKA, Australians are more badass than the majority of Americans.
I DID read the Russell James post about socializing. I found it helpful. I feel like that model is way more practical for long term. How many people want to spend the rest of their life worrying about food? It's about balance, and doing as much as you can to incorporate raw foods without overextending / isolating yourself. I would imagine you agree!