The Football Fan’s Diet

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – Yesterday was very challenging and I knew it would be. I had plans to meet a friend for a bite to eat in the evening. Implicit in this would be a sampling of beer. So all day, I limited what I wanted to eat because I knew there would be some beer waiting in the evening plus some pub grub, which is a notorious weakness of mine. Compounding matters – I didn’t exercise yesterday for the first time in a week. So, I didn’t have the built in luxury of at least “running off the beers” beforehand at the Y.

I should also mention that this was the pivotal eighth day of the FFD. Last year, I failed to get past eight consecutive days of healthy living. Eight was my high water mark last year. I was determined to get past it this time come hell or high water. I did. It wasn’t easy.

I had a small breakfast. For lunch, I had a GNC Nutrition Bar. My friend, a person whom I worked with as a consultant with at Bayer, is new to Pittsburgh. Originally from Ireland, he seems to enjoy a good beer as much as I do – in my book, perhaps the great universal foundation for mutual friendship.

About a month or so back we met in Shadyside, a trendy urban neighborhood. We cavorted at the Harris Grille. This place had always been a local favorite of mine, going back to when I had an apartment a few blocks away and was living the bachelor’s life. Decorum prohibits me from recounting how many beers I actually drank that night at the Harris Grille but let me say it was far too many that I had a right to have both legally and intelligently.

In the spirit of safety, it was not a smart thing to do. Actually, there is no sugar coating it. It was flat out stupid.

I ended up in the proverbial dog house over that one and the name of the dog that bite me that night had been some seasonal version of Samuel Adams. I am still convinced the waitress had made an error in the billing. There was no way we could have possibly drank all those beers!

In any case, our evening yesterday was both an effort to catch up and prove we could behave in a civilized manner and an enjoy a beer while doing so.

We went to the Franklin Inn, which is a Mexican hideaway in the quaint suburban neighborhood of Franklin Park, about a twenty minute ride north of Pittsburgh. This night we each had two Sam Adams pints. I even keep it very health conscious with an order of Shrimp Fajitas, which I split with my wife. Oh, yes, she came along. I am not sure if it was because she really wanted to hang out with us or to see for herself that we can behave within the realms of sensible folks. Whatever her reasons, I had an enjoyable evening. We shared some good travel stories. Our friend has just about lived the world over.

I suppose from a health perspective, the lesson learned is a good one to take to heart: good conversation and good company is zero calories. You can’t beat that.

View Larger Map

Trackback URI | Comments RSS