Recently in Dieting Category

My boyfriend and I went out to eat tonight and I was really astounded by something.  I was reviewing the options to find something that wouldn't be too horrible for me that also sounded half way decent.

I hadn't looked at the options before we left and there were a lot of things on the menu that sounded good so I asked my boyfriend to whip out his phone and see if he could find the nutrition info. for me to help in my decision.

Option 1: GRILLED BUFFALO CHICKEN

I was very surprised to see the grilled version had more calories, more fat, and more sodium.  I was also very surprised that a simple grilled buffalo chicken sandwich had nearly 1,000 carlories and 50g of fat.  This is a prime example of why I firmly believe all restaurants should print nutrition information right on the menu.  Sometimes it really is hard to tell which option would be better.  I personally tend to live by the rule grilled is better than fried, but apparently I was wrong, at least in this instance.

I also think it's completely ridiculous that restaurants serve such humongous portions that are filled with so much fat.  Maybe it's just me since I am a smaller woman and don't require a lot of calories in a day, but to have a burger on a menu that contains 1249 calories and 86 grams of fat is kind of wrong.  That is fairly close to the number of calories and significantly more fat than I am supposed to consume in an entire day.

In case anyone is curious, I ended up ordering (and enjoying)...

So what do you think?  Were you surprised by the above nurtrition information?  Do you think restaurants should put nutrition information on the menu itself?   

November 1, 2009:

May 1, 2010

Oh so close.  The initial goal was 119 and I had hoped to accomplish it by now.  The first few and the last few have definitely been the toughest.  Hopefully now that it's sprintime I'll be able to kick it up a notch.  New goal = 115.

There is a couple that my boyfriend and I like to go out to dinner with every, or every other, weekend.  For a while, when I first started my diet in November, I opted to not go out.  At all.  It was easier for me to resist going out to eat than it was for me to go out to eat and not get something bad.  Once I lost most of the weight I wanted to lose, I started going out again.  I would look up restaurants ahead of time and plan what I would get before we left.  I've managed to find several different restaurants that I feel comfortable going to and can enjoy something that is acceptable on my diet. 

Lately, this one particular couple we go out with tends to want to get dessert.  Either at the restaurant we're currently at or to go out somewhere else specifically for dessert.  I have a (very) difficult time saying no to this.  I would be perfectly happy not getting dessert, since my parents brought me up with dessert being far from a regular occurrence, until someone else mentions it and then I really want it.

We went out last night and it was no exception in terms of the dessert situation.  The other couple shared a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie.  Another friend got a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream.  

For me this was a total lose-lose situation once the idea of dessert was brought up.  A classic Catch-22.  I was either going to be upset because I caved and ordered some, or I was going to be upset because I was going to have to sit there and watch them eat their amazing little slices of heaven while I sipped the rest of my water.

I ended up choosing the water.  My boyfriend, who is a saint (I think I may have mentioned this a time or two already on this blog), abstained with me.  He is a guy, under thirty, and is blessed with a fantastic metabolism.   In orther words, he is thin and healthy.  So he has no reason to watch what he eats as closely as I do.  Of course he has to pay attention somewhat since he still wants to be healthy and eating a lot of sugar and fried food and other crap just isn't good for you, whether you are overweight or not.  

Anyway, I do think it is prefectly reasonable to treat yourself to foods that may not be very good for you but you enjoy, every now and then.  And I do allow myself to go "off-diet" and indulge, but these are special treats, rather than regular occurrences.  The difficult thing for me is not to start down that slippery slope.  The slope is slippery, and also very steep, and I go down fast.  Once I get started, if I am not really careful, the treats will start to become more routine than every once in a while.  It's hard, but I know myself well enough by now to know when to say yes, and when to say no.  I am pretty proud of my willpower last night and the balancing act I did.  I treated myself to a nice dinner, but didn't go overboard by piling dessert on top of it.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to handle this recurring issue, please feel free to speak up.  I don't want to miss out on going out to dinner, but I don't want to be faced with this major stuggle every time either. 

Yesterday I felt very guilty, and a bit disappointed in myself.  I still feel the same way today, but to a lesser extent.

During the week I normally eat lunch at my desk.  I have been very good about eating according to my diet.  Over the last 4 months I went out to lunch on September 28th (Olive Garden, for my birthday lunch), and then on December 3rd (Olive Garden again, taking a prospective employee out to lunch as part of the interview process).  And that's it.  Anyway, yesterday I went out to lunch again.  I wasn't really that bad, but I had my sub on white bread.  This will sound strange but I was "afraid" of the wheat bread that I normally eat.  I recall the last time I was at the sub place when I got my sub I was unpleasently surprised by tthe fact they had changed their bread.  At it was some sort of multi-grain with all kinds of seeds and nuts.  So I got the white, but figured that was ok since I have had next to know white bread since the beginning of November.  I "cheated", but only felt a slight twinge of guilt for going out and not eating my usual lunch that I make myself.

Then last night I was really bad.  We planned to go to Friday's for dinner.  We usually go out with some friends on Friday or Saturday night, and I've been able to find something at a few particular restaurants that actually sort of fit with my diet.  At Fridays that particular meal is the Key West Shrimp.  I think it is pretty much the only low carb thing on the menu.  When we got there though, they had a special deal going.  3 courses for $12.99.  And my shrimp dish was listed as one of the entrees available under the deal.  At the bottom of the special menu insert there was a beautiful picture of a chocolate peanut butter pie with a mini reeses on top.  Ugh.  Then I looked at the list of available appetizers and knew I was screwed.  Mozzarella sticks.  I absolutely love mozzarella sticks.  Now there was some major inner turmoil going on.  Do I just get that entree dish with a nice salad with low-fat balsamic dressing and be unhappy about what I am missing out on, or do I go ahead and get what I want but then feel terribly guilty about it?  Well, as you can tell from the title of the post I went ahead and ordered exactly what I wanted, and then felt terribly guilty about it.

I know it isn't really a bit deal, but I have to keep telling mysefl that in order to really convince myself.  I know I need to allow myself to occassionally have something bad if I enjoy it, I just can't have it too often.  I know I will get right back on track today. 

it looks awesome, doesn't it?

Less than a month ago:

This morning:

It may not seem like much, but to me it's huge.  After two years of struggle it is going down rather than up.  Not where I need to be, but well on my way.