Before I went to bed last night, I stepped on the scale.

I was up 6lbs from my pre-dinner weight thanks to my immortal enemy, RICE.

Yes, folks, I did the unthinkable.

The unimaginable.

The "oh hell no you didn't" thing that so many of us women do

- some with guilt and others without —

I ate a carb.

I ate MANY a carb.

I ate as many carbs as makes up 40 sushi rolls (some tempura-friend) and two (tempura shrimp stuffed, of course) sushi burritos.

It was AH-mazing.

BUT how I felt about myself after scale-stepping before bed was far from that.

But not just that…

get this…

I laid in bed and put my hand on my stomach, thinking,

"Look what you did. You made this thing all large and prominent. Why did you do that???"

And then I answered me,

very matter of factly,

and reminded myself why --

because food is fuel;

because food is meant to be enjoyed;

because good food makes for a good time;

because good times make me happy;

because sushi is a gift from the gods;

because I eat healthy-ish most of the time;

because food isn't meant to be stressed over;

because food, when enjoyed with others, brings people together;

because how much I weigh doesn't matter;

because how much I value myself does;

and me,

I deserve to eat food I enjoy whenever I damn well please

--and so do you.

Even if it's

fried,

carb-heavy,

smothered in melted cheese and garlic aioli,

or packed full of grilled-to-perfection fat.

Because life as a woman isn't about having the perfect body and eating only the 'right' foods.

No. Not at all.

Life as a woman is about knowing for damn certain that you've got to love, feed, and treat with respect the body you've got and however that beautiful b*tch changes over the years.