Putting My "Hiking" Shoes On

For a while during the summer it seemed that there was something going on every week that involved social occasions and food. Whether it was dinner with friends or family, visiting guests who we stocked the house full of snacks for, or week long birthday celebrations, it felt like I was constantly navigating an obstacle course of late night munching, favorite restaurant free-for-alls, and constant opportunities to eat cake to the point of nausea. Then things settled down and I did great; there weren’t too many big temptations and the small ones didn’t seem so difficult and I handled it all like a champ. But things are picking up again and the next few months are full of parties, birthdays, and of course the big bad mamas of weight loss hurdles, the holidays! In particular I realized that I’ll be eating out several times at some of my favorite restaurants over the next few weeks. Restaurant food is still my greatest nemesis and there are some places in particular that I really have trouble being reasonable at. A lot of it has to do with my perception of responsibility. If I can find the nutritional information of a restaurant online then I feel committed (maybe even obligated) to make a healthier choice. But if I don’t know the info for a restaurant then I feel like it’s all beyond my control and so it’s understandable that I fall victim to the lure of eating enough for a family of four at one sitting. It’s not my fault that I didn’t have any calorie information to reference before making my choice! And really that’s just me making an excuse. I know that if it’s smothered in cheese, smeared with mayonnaise, covered in butter, or making huge puddles of fat and oil on its plate then it’s probably not a great choice for me. I know what I should be looking for when I’m ordering but when faced with a menu I convince myself that it’s probably all really bad for me so I should just say screw it and get anything and everything I want. The next two weeks will be a challenge but I keep reminding myself that I still have to journal everything I eat (part of my “if you eat it, you write it” rule) and even if I don’t know exact numbers, I still have to do my best and estimate. If I eat like a madwoman I can’t pretend it didn’t happen just because I didn’t jot it down. Hopefully this will keep me aware of my long term wants and not my short term desires. So many people have said that losing weight is an uphill battle and they aren't joking! If we're going with this metaphor then I figure that I didn’t come this far only to turn around and go back to where I started. I want to see the view from the top of the mountain!