The last several days have been FILLED with my biggest challenge on a diet - the social event. It has been one after the other after the other....and I am proud to say, with the exception of one situation, I did very well in terms of counting my points and making good decisions. Here is a recap of my adventures.
Friday, Outing #1: Met an old friend for lunch at my fave Mexican restaurant. I over ate - no questions, but I counted the points and should have been OK - but outing #3 took me down.
Friday, Outing #2: Cute little nephew's birthday party. It was held at Planet Play - a fun center with a buffet style meal. I was terrified, I won't lie. But I made great decisions and left feeling like a champ (except for that part where I lost my car keys - again. SERIOUSLY!). I ate a baked potato w/ marinara sauce on it, a few black olives, a tablespoon of sour cream and a tablespoon of shredded cheese. I also had 1/3 cup of soft serve ice cream and a fresh baked mini chocolate chip cookie. I was completely satisfied when I left and well within my daily points allotment.
Friday, Outing #3: Movies. I took my niece to the movies. We went to see 'The Vow'. I was DYING to see the movie. The hubs was taking the girls to a Daddy/Daughter dance, so I thought - this is my chance to see a sappy romance! I had coached myself over and over again - YOU WILL NOT EAT TOO MUCH POPCORN. YOU WILL NOT EAT TOO MUCH POPCORN. Guess what, I ate too much popcorn. WAY too much popcorn. BUT, the positive is that I faced the music and tracked the points for it (ugh). I also paid dearly on Saturday - my stomach was beyond upset and my digestive system was unappreciative of my escapade.
Saturday, Outing #1: Birthday Party. My oldest daughter turned 10 years old!!! Seriously, that alone was reason to emotion eat, but I did not. We had her birthday party at "The Lion House" in Salt Lake - with 11 young children (again, insert reason to emotion eat here). I was a rock! Thanks in large part to my disgruntled digestive system!! They served a small luncheon with carrots, a small tuna sandwich, pretzels and apples. Not too shabby. I ate a slice of birthday cake (so worth it) and a scoop of ice cream (again, so worth it). Tracked all my points and was sitting pretty.
Saturday, Outing #2: Dinner. My mother-in-law came to town this weekend for the birthday festivities. We went out to dinner after she got in. We originally planned to go to my fave Mexican restaurant (yes, I had just eaten there the day before....it is fab, I can't help it), but the wait was too long and my MIL was hungry and ready to eat. We headed over to Zupa's. I wanted the Wisconsin Cauliflower (my favorite soup at Zupa's), but instead chose the Chicken Tortilla with a Chicken Salad. I had low fat dressing on my salad, and it was good. Points wise, it was a winner. I finished the day strong and was well within my points allotment.
Sunday, Outing #1: Birthday Party. We had a family birthday celebration for my nephew and my daughter - as well as my mom, sister and sister-in-law, who all celebrated birthdays this week. Again, I was faced with birthday cake and ice cream. I did partake, but I kept the portions small and point friendly (oh yeah, and left ALL the extra cake and cupcakes at my sister's house - I can't be trusted!).
And of course, last night was Valentine's Day. Luckily, I was not feeling great and did not want to go out to eat. Chris brought home Cafe Rio - I had a Chicken Salad - which, by the way, is not very point friendly - but I had enough to cover it.
Food is such a major part of how we socialize with each other. That is a piece of reality I am ALWAYS going to have to deal with. I don't want to avoid those situations - I love my friends and family and want to spend time with them - eat with them and love the food! But, if these last few days has taught me anything, it is that I can be successful in a social situation by planning ahead, making good choices, watching my portion sizes, AND not ordering a large popcorn under any circumstance (Connie, It's O.K. that the small popcorn is not as good a value as the large popcorn, it really is - you won't die).
In other news - You may notice the lack of a weigh in post today. There is a great reason for that - I have changed my weigh in days from Wednesday to Saturday. Here's the deal. Weighing in is an event for me - and an emotional one at that. I have a process that I have to go through before I weigh in - it is time consuming, and a little OCD, but it is my process and I need to be able to go through it before I weigh in. Also, once I have weighed in, I need time to process and analyze my results - and if necessary, kick, scream and yell. Trying to do all of that on a day when I have to work is not possible. Not possible at all. I did weigh in last Saturday - and yes, I lost weight - 2.6 lbs. to be precise (I was thrilled considering the night before was the popcorn fiasco). I will have a full weigh in post this coming Saturday!!! STAY TUNED!
I struggle with portion control - I'm just so used to eating large amounts that it doesn't 'register' with me until it's too late. Unless I'm eating 'in the moment'. I have to make a conscious effort to be aware of volume and amounts. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I totally understand and when you're talking about multiple social situations in one day on multiple days - you did awesome! When it comes to the 'value' of that popcorn - here's something to think about (I think I read it in one of Geneen Roth's books) - where is the value in stuffing ourselves with food because the bigger size is a 'better value' if we then have to lose the weight from it.? That 'extra value food' just ends up being literal waste from our bodies or excess on our bodies. I remind myself of that every day - I just really need to eat less(whether it's healthy food or not - too much is too much).
ReplyDeleteConnie, you crack me up with the internal monologue about not dying for getting the less valuable small popcorn. They try to get me all the time there with the "Its only .50 cents more for the EXTRA LARGE popcorn...they never get me on that...but they do EVERY TIME with the frozen drink...which makes no sense because they give FREE REFILLS so if I want more bad enough I can get my fat ass up during the movie and go get more. I'll have to internally converse about that when I go to see The Vow...which I am DETERMINED to go see. : ) Thanks for not discussing anything about the movie...after I read the part where you said you went to see that movie I started reading each...word...slowly...so that I didn't see the next word in case you started talking about how the movie was. lol I hate spoilers.
ReplyDeleteWAY TO GO on your self-control!!! I think I would be dying of exhaustion after that many social gatherings in one weekend. I'd be counting the calories burned doing all that stuff! : )
Erin, the sad thing is I truly had this inner monologue happening as I stood there in line - I'm sure my lips were actually moving and others thought I was crazy! Let me know how you like The Vow when you see it! We can share reviews!
ReplyDeletePortion control is still an issue for me too. I am learning, and I am doing better. I'm sure as my daily points allotment drops, I will find it more and more challenging to manage the portions. And you are so right about the value of overeating and putting that food right on my bedonk a donk - I just end up having to waste so much time and energy worrying about it being there, worrying about getting it off - it's not worth it. Honestly, I am going to think about that the next time I want "value" food!
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