I nearly choked on my turkey burger as the man walked up to
the table beside us. He was a big guy with huge muscles nearly ripping through
his tight fitting suit. If I were to guess, he looked like a guy named Guido.
And I would tell you what color his eyes were, except that he had sunglasses
on. Honestly, this guy was intimidating! So cautiously I watched. It seemed as
if “Guido” had found who he was looking for.
She was a middle aged woman, dressed
in work out clothes as if she had just come from a spin class or something. I remember her because she had been sitting
next to me in the restaurant for the last 20 minutes or so with another friend who
also looked like one of those work out people. I will never forget what happened next.
You see, sitting right there in the middle of
the table was a small basket of bread. Beside the bread was a small plate of
butter. The whole time I had been sitting there, I noticed that neither of the
ladies had touched the bread. But, clearly that was not the desire of Mr.
Guido. With a stern face and a deep sigh, Guido carefully picked up a piece of
the bread and spread butter on it with precision. He paused for a moment, then,
with a sigh, handed the bread to one of the ladies. She looked almost helpless
as she took a bite of the bread. Guido then cracked his knuckles and the lady
ate faster. In fact, Guido didn’t even have to butter her next two pieces of
bread; she did that herself.
I noticed that Guido hung around until dessert time when he
also forced the lady to have a piece of cheesecake. After the cheesecake was gone, Guido walked
away with a sly smile on his face, stating ‘I’ll see you for dinner.”
Thankfully, this didn’t really happen; however, every single
day we are faced with choices. We can choose to eat healthy, or not -it’s all
up to us! Usually when we do make the bad choices, we say to ourselves “I just
had to have that cheesecake…or those cookies…or that such and such” as if Guido
himself were standing there forcing us to eat unhealthy. The simple truth is
that the only Guido around is the one within us, not FORCING us to eat badly,
but rather ALLOWING it.
So do this. Next time you are faced with an unhealthy food
option, realize that there is no one forcing you to eat it. Make the healthy
food choice instead and watch as Guido gets a puzzled look on his face and
quietly slips away. Oh, and don’t forget to tell him he’s not invited to dinner!
Success in health comes one meal at a time so make each one count!
If you see me around town eating, pull up the empty chair
and join me. Guido doesn’t need it anymore.
