Fitness Friday: Eating Out & About

Hello again!

Someday I'll post things in between Fitness Fridays, but it seems that for now once a week is all I can manage. That's OK--on to my assignment:

Progress this week: lost the 4 pounds I "gained" last week. So I'm glad they're gone, but I'd really much prefer to move in one direction than to do this little number cha-cha. But I'm doing the right things, so I just need to keep doing them. These things include:

1.) Going to the gym & putting in good, sweat-filled workouts

2.) Drinking more water
3.) Planning & tracking my food

So for next week, it's more of the same. I will be more strict with my food planning and journaling this week. If I don't plan to eat it, then I don't eat it. Lately I've been less diligent in this area and it could be why I'm not shrinking at the rate I'd like to.

So this week's topic is how to handle eating outside the home. This was a biggie for me--a large part of my problem was that I ate out ALL THE TIME when I was single and crazy-busy. When I lived in my 1st apartment, I ordered from the local Chinese delivery place so often that they recognized my voice on the phone. Yep--didn't need to ask for an address or phone number--they'd take my order and say "Oh, OK. 15 minute!" Then when UB and I got together, one of our favorite activities was eating out together. There's also something in me that equated eating out with a special occasion, which equalled permission to splurge. I had to fight that instinct when I first started losing weight; my eating-out mantra was "Everyday is NOT my birthday! On my birthday, I will eat whatever I want but today's not it!" But even with the attitude modification, I still find it challenging when not eating at home. When I'm home, I have ultimate control over how my food is prepared, what is prepared, how it is served, etc. The minute I go to a restaurant or over to family/friend's house, that control is gone. All I have left is the control over what & how much goes in my mouth. And for me to succeed at self-control, I have to send my brain ahead of my mouth. Someday I hope to face food and default to making good choices without having to think about it. But until then, I've gotta have a battle plan for each situation.

Battle Plan for Restaurants

1.) RECONNAISSANCE. Knowledge is power, people! When going to a restaurant, look up the menu & nutritional information online. I also have a WW restaurant guide which provides Points values for various dishes. This has been such a helpful tool! Somehow fried chicken atop Alfredo sauce-drenched pasta is much less appetizing when you realize it's 2 day's worth of caloric intake on one plate. Once you know your options, plan what you're going to order & stick with your choice once you get to the restaurant.

2.) RESTRAINT. If it isn't your birthday or anniversary, then this is just another meal--no excuse to splurge! I know that you love Chicken French and never make it because the kids don't like it--save it for your birthday. OR if you really must have it, plan ahead and account for it in your food budget. Work in extra activity or make sure the rest of the week's meals were conservative, non-splurge events. Side note here: Whether it's counting Points or calories or carbs or fat grams or food group servings or whatever, we should all be budgeting our food intake in some way. Clearly most of us don't know how to do this without conscious thought--that's why we're participating in Fitness Friday! I also find that budgeting helps do away with unhealthy food concepts like "bad" and "good" foods and replaces them with the healthy concepts of "expensive" and "cheap." An apple is cheap, brownies are expensive. But if you budget accordingly and save up and plan for it, you can afford expensive things every now and then. (With the key phrase being "every now and then." Not "all the time just because.")

3.) RESEARCH. In addition to saving up for splurges, we can find ways to get things "on sale;" we can find lower-calorie alternatives to favorite, "expensive" foods. If you haven't checked out http://www.hungrygirl.com/ then may I suggest you take a peek at the wealth of information provided. She is my "discount food" inspiration and her recipes are what got me through Thanksgiving & Christmas last year! Weight Watchers also has a great cookbook called "Take Out Tonight" that features recipes for restaurant favorites. The book is divided into sections by food type--i.e. deli favorites, Greek, Chinese, Italian, Indian, etc. In terms of the restaurant battle plan, knowing that I can make a given recipe at home for far fewer calories & fat grams really helps me make better food choices when eating out. From decadent desserts to entrees, there are so many former favorites that don't tempt me at all anymore. I will never order eggplant parm at a restaurant again--not after I learned how to make it at home for cheap.

4.) RATE YOUR OPTIONS. Is the bread basket really so delectable that it's worth the calories? Do you really need the cream of potato & cheddar with bacon soup? How about the chicken escarole instead? Do you need to drench the salad in fatty dressing, or can you ask for a low-fat option on the side? What's really worth it to you to eat and what's not? Then choose what you really like and skip what you don't. As a HUGE fan of Chinese buffets, I was amazed to discover one day that white rice doesn't thrill me. I'd always just automatically loaded it on my plate to soak up the sauce of the other dishes. So now I put a pile of lettuce on my plate to soak up the sauce instead. (I know that may sound gross, but think about it--how much flavor does iceberg lettuce really have? It works for me, anyway.)

Battle Plan for Family, Friends, & Food Situations

1.) BYOB--as in "Bring Your Own Bargain." When going to eat with friends/family, plan to bring something that you know is a good and delicious choice. Then strategize how you will approach the other food that is offered that might be more expensive. If there's a dish present that you love and you only ever have on the holidays, then by all means have some! But if it's something like cheese & crackers or Chex Mix, why not pass that up? If you don't love it, don't waste your caloric funds on it. You can also do recon for family gatherings, asking around to see what folks are bringing so you can plan ahead. Brain before mouth, folks--we all know that hitting the fruit & veggie platter is a better choice than the buffalo wing dip & chocolate fountain. Go in armed with information, alternatives, and exit strategies. Be purposeful and positive--you can enjoy the evening without going over budget.

2.) SAVOR THE FLAVOR. Plan to eat slowly and savor your food. How often do we chow down & don't take the time to really taste our food? I know I've been guilty of this so often. But when you slow down & savor it, some amazing things happen. You find you are satisfied with less AND when you take a bite of something you really don't care for, you realize you don't like it BEFORE you've eaten the whole thing! Which brings me to a news flash for some of us "Clean Plate Club" members: when you try something and you don't really like it, you don't have to finish it. Really--you can THROW IT AWAY. It's not a sin, I promise. If you tried to send it to the starving people in China it would rot before it reached them AND you being fat doesn't help them any either. So toss it.

3.) LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Plan to NOT plant your butt right next to the food table. In fact, see if you can make it extra inconvenient for you to go back for seconds. I cannot tell you how often I've been guilty of hovering. It's as if I was afraid that if I left, the food would disappear and I would miss out on the opportunity to have more chew & swallow fun. So selfish, so greedy, so lustful, so unhealthy, so wrong. Lord, forgive me.

4.) PREPARATION. Eat a little something before you go so you aren't starving when you arrive. When your hunger signals intensify, chances are you will not make the best choices. So keep the hunger urges tame by eating a small snack and/or arriving well-hydrated to the event.

5.) PROPER FOCUS. Why are you gathering? Who and what is the centerpiece of the day's events? Who/what is more important--the people or the food? Yes, we need to think about the food since (again) making good choices isn't automatic for us yet. But when we get there, put your attention on the people who are there. Enjoy the company more than you enjoy the food.

Ok, that's all I've got. I'm sure there's more to say, but I'm guessing others have already said it. And there is all kinds of info out there on the web related to eating outside the home. All of the above tips are things I've learned how to do over the past year. There's still room for improvement--I don't always do what I know I ought to. My flesh wins out & I order something indulgent without planning for it, or I fall back into old eating habits when visiting my parents. But again, the accountability this forum provides will be such a help to me! I look forward to reporting in over the next few weeks, sharing how I put my battle plans to use. And I look forward to reading your tales of victory as well.