Yesterday we had a huge party, and I wondered how I’d do. Lots of food, lots of temptations. And aside from the veggie tray, there was really nothing even remotely low-calorie to choose from.
I did OK, mostly because every time I tried to sit down to eat, I kept getting called away from my plate of food. Then, by the time I’d get back to it, it’d either be cold, or it just wouldn’t look good to me.
I had one or two crazy moments of eating with mindless, yet somehow sneaky, abandon. I’d made cornbread muffins. I’m not a huge fan of cornbread, but every once in awhile, it sounds good. At the last minute, I whipped up some honey butter to go with it. And of course I was “obligated” to taste-test it, to make sure the ratio of honey to butter was correct. Heh. Yeah, “obligated.” I cut a muffin in half, slathered both halves with honey butter, cut them into bites, and asked a couple of the guests to test them with me. When we finally agreed that it was perfect, I found myself taking another muffin and smearing more butter on it. Then, a little later on, when my daughter came in with half that she didn’t want, I “had” to keep it from going to waste by doing the same. (My honey butter was phenomenal!)
A couple of cornbread muffins aren’t going to derail me, exactly. But what bothered me about that was the weird mindset I had as I did it. It was almost like I was sneaking something, like somehow if I was “testing” the bites, they had no calories and “didn’t count.” And of course, finishing my kid’s food falls in the same category. Likewise anything eaten while standing up, on the sly.
I’m still working through all this.
Anyway, yesterday went OK. I did have a small piece of key lime pie, but again, I did not even get to finish it. I was called away from my plate, and when I saw it sitting there about an hour later, I realized that my coffee was cold and I didn’t feel like finishing the rest of the pie.
Some of the good things I did: after the cornbread incident, I deliberately went and fetched a plate of fresh veggies with a tiny dab of dip. I made myself finish the plate. The veggies were tasty, and I think they did keep me from going crazy the rest of the afternoon. I also quit eating pretty early in the day. After my couple of interrupted attempts at eating lunch, I didn’t really have much else. I didn’t have any of the pecan bars that someone brought, or the gooey brownies, and I never even let myself get started on the chips and salsa that another person brought late in the afternoon. I decided that I truly need to avoid chips of any kind
Today after church we went to Olive Garden for lunch. They currently have an excellent entree on their menu. (That would be excellent in the taste department, NOT in the nutritional department!) It is cheese-stuffed rigatoni with sausage. The sausage covered in the cheesy alfredo sauce is amazing. But it’s also extremely high-calorie. Thedailyplate.com does not have a posting for it, as it’s off Olive Garden’s seasonal menu, but I’m guessing it’s extremely fattening.
However, during a previous visit to Olive Garden, my mom had ordered that and had been unable to finish all of hers. So she gave me a small spoonful, perhaps two little bites of sausage and three stuffed noodles. (It didn’t even cover my small bread plate.) Oddly enough, though, that portion was enough, along with my minestrone soup and salad. So today, I asked my husband if he’d be willing to try that. (Truth was, I was so weak in my resolve because of the memory of how good that had tasted that if he had NOT agreed to order it, I probably would have caved and ordered it myself.)
But he was nice and got that for lunch and then shared a small bit of it with me. Again I was amazed at how such a small bit was perfectly satisfying. And since a bowl of minestrone soup is under 200 calories, and since I only had one breadstick and a small bowl of salad, I feel like I did pretty well there.
But it was still more food than I normally eat for lunch, so I adjusted dinner accordingly. I ate a bag of fresh veggies that someone else had brought yesterday as part of an appetizer (it was a sandwich-sized bag). Then I had a Slim-Fast High Protein shake. And that’s it for me. I’m not entirely sure what my calorie tally has been, but I think I’m within my limits.
I’m feeling good and once again wanting to stick with my commitment. I haven’t weighed myself in several days, so I don’t know if I’ve made any more progress. I don’t particularly feel like I’ve lost anything more, but I don’t think I’ve gained either. Tomorrow I will work out again (I haven’t had time over the past couple of days because of the party). I have to keep plugging along. My goal is to be 160 by the time we go on our summer vacation.
