Thou Shalt Not Be Perfect Every Day

Hi all! So today was a difficult food day, but I'm in a fantastic mood because I had a great gig tonight! I had lunch with my parents at an asian restaurant, which has the illusion of being healthy until they add sugary sauce and carb-heavy rice. I had hot and sour soup and lettuce wraps, so I strayed from all the rice and I was very proud! Granted, eating healthy with my parents is easy because they both REALLY want me to lose weight (in a supportive way, not a condescending way) and I think if I ordered something like Sweet n' Sour chicken with white rice they might veto me. :) Then I had errands to run before my gig, and only had time to grab a lean pocket (not a horrible choice, just not the most healthy or filling) on the car ride between home and pre-gig rehearsal. I had a Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich on the way to the gig. Went through the drive thru and ordered no fries and no soda, and FYI Wendy's chicken sandwiches are the most healthy because they don't use mayonnaise or cheese! Yay me!

4 hours later, after the gig (which went pretty well!), I was starving. This is where my bad habits were quite tempting. So many bars down the street with delicious nachos or cheese dips or potato skins and many varieties of fattening beer. But I managed to only have 2 beers, guacamole, chips, and half of an appetizer serving of mushroom quesadillas. Now, I ADORE mexican food, but unfortunately it can be some of the most fattening. Guacamole, while not as healthy as salsa, is more filling and a healthy kind of fat. The chips that go with them are the kicker - I try to load up my chip with a lot of guacamole so that I don't eat as many of them. Quesadillas are one of the more healthy choices as far as mexican food goes. Yes, lots of cheese, but tortillas aren't fried and they're not coated with a fattening sauce. Also, if you get them with mushrooms or spinach instead of chicken or steak, you can cut some of the calories and add in some veggies! Basically, with quesadillas of any variety, it's all about portion control. Eating only half of a regular portion, I felt comfortably full and still have a snack for tomorrow!

Today, I used more of my weekly WW points (permanent abbreviation for Weight Watchers from now on!) than I might like, and I didn't get up early enough to go to the gym. But, I didn't go over my weekly points, and by not depriving myself and still making smart choices, I was able to end the day feeling like I got a treat without going off plan. This is SO KEY to weight loss. If you deprive yourself of every food you love, YOU WILL NEVER LOSE WEIGHT! You might have 2 great weeks, but by then you start craving every horrible food you see, smell or drive by, and you have a 3 bad weeks, which puts you right back where you started. Moderation is the key my friends!!!

So, in short, an average day which left me still feeling great! All your support makes it so much easier to do things like go out to eat or talk about weight loss. It can be difficult to say things to your friends like, "choosing mushrooms over chicken can cut the calories without cutting taste!" can sound condescending if they don't know how hard you're working to lose weight. I used to stress out over talking about low-fat foods around my friends who didn't have to watch their weight, because I was afraid they would assume that I thought THEY needed to go on a diet. I have realized that this was MY issue - I knew I wanted to diet, so anytime anyone talked about dieting, I felt guilty. This transference of guilt is not actually true. Remember that if people are really your friends and they know you're dieting, they won't make you feel bad about ordering grilled chicken salad instead of fried chicken with ranch and french fries. Also, they'll usually let you have 2 of their fries to satisfy your cravings. :) Keep up the hard work all and thank you from the bottom of my heart!