Why it’s Okay to Have Two Dinners

Happy Monday! I hope you all had an amazing weekend full of lots of food, friends and great memories :)!

Today, I’m going to tell you how I ate two (yes two) full dinners yesterday and why it’s okay to do that every once in while. Let me start from the beginning.

Last week, one of my closest friends from college, Lindsey, said she was going to be in Chicago for a Bachelorette Party. Linds works for Rue La La and is a super successful fashion blogger in Boston (check out her site L’s Fashion Dish). On top of everything she does with fashion, she’s also one of the biggest foodies I know. Long story short, this girl is the real deal and I was determined to show her all Chicago has to offer.

Since I’m a food blogger with really strong knowledge, I knew I could easily show her the best of the best here. The problem? I only had 6 hours to do it since the bachelorette party festivities didn’t end till Sunday afternoon.

Linds and her awesome friend, Elana, arrived at my apartment around 3pm and before we finished hugging hello, they told me they were hungry. I had made dinner reservations at Sunda for 8 p.m. and knew if we ate anything huge, we wouldn’t be able to eat dinner. I asked them what they were in the  mood for and they said to bring them to the best appetizer in the city. Immediately I thought of the coccoli at Siena Tavern. So…we went!

When we got to Siena, my mind started racing about all the incredible things on the menu. Our trip for coccoli (pictured top left) quickly turned into a 4 course meal that also included the burrata, gnocchi and bomboloni (you can read all about these dishes and more here). Needless to say…we were stuffed. I asked them if I should cancel dinner and like the foodie troopers they are, they said “no way”. Long story short, these are my kind of girls.

At 8pm we headed over to Sunda on schedule and proceeded to have our 2nd dinner of the day. We enjoyed the incredible brussels sprouts salad, rock shrimp tempura (pictured top right), crispy rice with tuna, truffle escolar and a special s’mores dessert that I could eat every single day of my life.

On our walk home, the guilt set in. We all kept talking about our “food babies” and how fat we felt. Then we really started picking apart our bodies and pointing out areas we needed to work on. There was even talk of only eating raw vegetables in the coming week.

Then it hit me.

“It’s okay to have two dinners once in a while”, I said. I looked at their puzzled faces and knew I had to explain. “Honestly, we need to stop badgering ourselves every time we eat something that isn’t so great. Every day is a new day and every meal is a new meal. The ones who dwell and consume themselves in their one (or two) bad dinners, don’t have a clear head to make healthy decisions in their next one. People think because they screwed up once, they’ve screwed up forever. Guess what, THEY DIDN’T!” In that moment, I saw a light in their eyes and this immediate release of guilt. I knew I had to share this with my readers.

Life is all about balance. So I ate two dinners last night. Today, I’m going to have a balanced breakfast, head to the gym and maybe run an extra mile (probably not), and try to stick to healthier foods like I do everyday. And you know what, I’ll probably have a piece of chocolate, because I love chocolate.

And that’s okay.

Love always,
Erica