Because tonight I had cheesecake…

Tonight, we celebrated my future stepdaughter’s birthday with The Cheesecake Factory’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake. This happens only once per year. Maximum.

In case you were wondering, according to The Cheesecake Factory‘s website, the dessert includes, “Chunks of Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cups in our Original Cheesecake with Layers of Delicious Fudge Cake and Caramel.”

In anticipation of a rare and delicious dessert, I…

• Worked out for an extra hour.
• Ate a light lunch.
• Instead of eating Chinese food with everyone for dinner, I ate half a turkey sandwich.

And, when it came time to eat the cheesecake, I had less than half of one slice. After cheesecake eating time, I started cleaning out the garage to prep for this weekend’s graduation party and to torch some more calories.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll do yoga, interval walk-run training, and go to my favorite Ballet Fit class. Once in a great while, I’m having the dessert. What I won’t do is let it derail me from my goals in any significant way. Indulgence happens. It doesn’t have to equal total derailment.

Ready to be horrified?

On Nutritionix, I found the following nutrition facts (though I think the calorie count is actually a bit higher based on what I saw when we were at The Cheesecake Factory purchasing the the Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It takes a lot to torch those calories

399 minutes equals more than six and a half hours of walking. That’s what it would take to burn off all of the cheesecake calories. Or, you know, if you’re up to it, running a half marathon would do the trick. I’m so happy I chose to have less than half of a slice. By the time I make it to noon tomorrow, I should have well over all those extra empty calories burned. Empty calories seem so sad and pointless now that I think about it though, even if those particular ones happen only once per year. There are other birthdays and other cakes filled with calories that do nothing more than delight my taste buds for a few minutes.

With a graduation party happening this weekend, it’ll be time to indulge again. Perhaps instead I’ll make something sweet for myself that does something more than satisfy my sweet tooth. I’d really rather consume something yummy with some level of nutritional value.

How do you handle celebratory sweets? Please let me know by emailing melissa@40fitnstylish.com.