Those Restaurants.......

So my son and I had a conversation a few days ago about ‘conscious eating’ as a way to loose weight. This style of eating has helped me lose more than thirty pounds. I’m more than pleased with these results, and will never (yes, I know that ‘never’ is a word you should never use, but I’m using it because I feel strongly about this) eat impulsively again.

Back to the conversation.......He mentioned those restaurants. You know, the ones that bring you chips and salsa or a mini loaf of bread and butter, or mouth watering garlic cheese rolls before your meal. You’ve already ordered your meal, and then they immediately bring you something that’s sure to destroy whatever good intentions you had of eating only till you’re full. It’s not at all fair.

My husband and I were at one of those restaurants last week. We were celebrating my birthday. I could have splurged, because, you know, we were celebrating. But I chose not to.  When they brought that freshly baked loaf and butter to our table, I chose to only eat a tiny slice, and then wait for my meal, because I wanted to enjoy my steak and baked potato, which was more important to me than filling up on bread. I was happy with my choice. That steak was great.

Anyway, back to the topic. Choices have to be made. Priorities must be decided and set. We can’t eat it all, and then expect to look like one of those naturally slender people.  Most of the time they don’t eat it all either. How does a thin person handle this kind of situation? Most likely they will eat a few chips or a small amount of bread, to save room for their meal.

But but but what if those garlicy, cheesey rolls just keep ‘calling your name’ while you’re waiting for your food, and you can’t, can’t stop eating them? You know what? If that happens, it’s ok! If you eat too many of those ‘to die for’ rolls, and you’re not hungry when the meal arrives, it’s ok! Just ask for a carry out box and know that your meal will taste great later!

It’s all ok! This is all about enjoying the food that we want, but doing so in a way that will help us become one of those ‘naturally thin’ people.

The Challenges and Rewards Continue.....

My husband and I went out to eat last night. We don't eat out often, so this was a real treat for us.  We went to an Italian restaurant; a place we had never been.  The food was delicious. I ordered veal toscana, which is veal with vegetables smothered in an unbelievably delicious sauce over angel hair spaghetti. The portion size was quite large.  Our meal also came with yummy, yummy, yummy garlic yeast rolls.  Oh my.  What's a girl to do? So much wonderful food. So little room in my tummy. 

I decided to eat slowly, enjoying every bite. It didn't take long. I began to feel full after having eaten only about a quarter of my meal.  Everything within me wanted to keep eating, and truthfully, I did take four or five bites too much, before I was able to 'wrestle' my desires to eat anyway to the ground and ask for a carry out container.

I had to make myself think about the fact that this succulent meal will taste just a good for lunch today as it did last night.  In fact, it will taste better because I won't be full while I'm eating it.  There is enough food left from me to have about 3 more meals. Yum!!!!

Mental gymnastics.  That's it.  It's all about how I allow things food related to be framed in my mind.  I think this is one of the major components to food control in our lives. Anyway I made it through another challenging moment and have delicious leftovers today as a reward!

Success at the Restaurant!

My definition of success when I'm eating out? Being able to stop eating before my meal is gone.

My husband and I ate out today. We went to a cafeteria where I was a wide variety of food. Though the food I selected were not the best choices for weight loss, I could have certainly done much worse.

The first things we did was ask for carry outs.  Wise decision. Because the carry out was already on our table, I was able to eat what I thought was wise and put the rest in the carry out. Now I have food for lunch tomorrow!

BTW. I was down 3 pounds at my last TOPS weigh in. Woooohooo!