It's 5AM on February 12th. Technically speaking I didn't get a blog post up yesterday, but that's OK. I went to bed early knowing I would get up and post before work; I was too tired to write and didn't want to just leave another short post like the day before.
Yesterday I did a fairly decent job with the exception of lunch. For some reason when I go out for lunch I struggle with control. It's almost like feeling deprived of something and I don't know when I'll get to go again so I better enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I don't go hog wild, but I definitely order and eat more than I need to.
I wonder if any of you are like me when it comes to eating out. Do you treat it like it could be your last time at that restaurant and so you better eat as much as you can? Or how about this one... When I choose my order, I choose based on highest price because my brain makes the assumption that the higher the price, the more food I'll get. Ever do that? I've literally looked at a menu and thought "Gee that item looks delicious, but this other one is $3 more so it must be more filling or you must get more". Does that sound crazy to you?
Then of course there's always the buffet restaurants. What overweight person doesn't seek those out regularly? I have to admit, I've done a lot better avoiding those places lately. I have told myself that if I'm going to go out to eat, I would rather have a good meal than mass quantities of mediocre food. Once in a while the family and I will go to Chinese buffet, but it's much less than we used to. When the kids were younger I would rationalize that buffets were great with kids because the food was cheaper than a regular restaurant and since the kids were so picky they had a lot to choose from. It's amazing how we rationalize stuffing our faces huh? Trust me when I say no buffet has ever made a penny off me.
One surprising thing about me when it comes to going out to eat is that I never order dessert. It's not that I don't want to, but rather I can't bring myself to pay those outrageous prices. Besides, I can stop at the grocery store and pick up a whole cake for the price of a couple slices... more for the money (see a common thread here).
For the longest time I told myself that in order to be successful at losing weight I would need to just avoid going out to eat. I've begun to realize that philosophy just isn't realistic. Going out to eat should be limited, but when I do, I need to not treat it like some once-in-a-lifetime celebration and instead just treat it like any normal meal. Maybe if I don't treat it like it's a big deal it won't be.
38+ days in the books, here's to a bright morning on day #39.
Stay Strong!
As unrealistic as it may seem, it is the only way I can keep in control. Eating out is one of the things that throw me down a hard to control spiral of not just overeating but more like the beginning of a binging period. I think I have eaten out less than five times in the last six months not because I don't want to but because my brain wants more bang (food) for my buck when I'm at a restaurant and I know better than to add that to my struggles lol The bigger the portions, the better the restaurant is what I used to say. Bless my heart!
ReplyDeleteOh man! you stole my thunder on this one! I was going to post about it today! Great self awareness FD. I have been ruminating on this lately. I will be the first to admit that I realize that it is not possible that my family will on occasion go out and eat. We are currently avoiding buffets, but as going out to eat goes, we have been focusing on not treating the occasion like a go hog wile moment, and actually seeking out reasonable food choices and not getting soft drinks. Gotta tell you man, you seem to be in a zone!
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