Perpetual Healthy Eating and Fitness Rant & Rave thread

[Run Amok]

Help!!!!

I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night for a friend's birthday. This is the dinner menu: http://www.cipollina-austin.com/storage/DinnerMenurevised1-11-12.pdf

What should I get? I don't eat seafood. No way, no how, no exceptions. I will likely get a glass or two of wine, and I'm guessing there will also be some kind of dessert. If it's shared, I can just eat a small sliver of something, but I need to assume that I'll be drinking wine and eating dessert, so dinner itself needs to be on the lighter side of things.

Mmmm. That menu looks fantastic! #1- I'd eat before I left. Easier to resist temptation (and the table bread) if you're not hungry. I would take a cue from the rest of the table about apps/salad ordering. You might get saved there. If not- I'd go for the butter lettuce and ask for the feta and olives on the side, if I thought I could eat just a little of each and be satisfied. Or, I'd do the spinach one and not eat all the chevre. If other people aren't ordering salad- I might go for the spinach salad as my entree. (this would past muster with my friends- but I might get harassed about it by family). The pork chop and steak both look like decent options. I would ask for a substitution on the fries. Maybe lentils or sweet potatoes or a salad. Or just skip them. Then I would try and eat about 1/2 of the entree. Do you have a friend that might go splitsies with you? I have a couple of friends that I often do this with. We'll split a salad and then split an entree.

Or... call it a splurge meal, tell yourself it's good for sustainability and stay on plan all day right to the meal and then get right back on plan as soon as it's over. Then, you get to enjoy yourself AND avoid the guilt. (having a plan that I know I can stick to satisfies my guilty conscience (sorry, speller broken) much more than if I set an unreasonable goal and then I blow it)

[debbatx]

Oh, good call on having a snack before so I don't go nuts with the bread, RA - thanks!

I'm leaning towards calling it a splurge, but I'd still like it to be the least-damaging splurge possible, you know? I've never been to this place before - so I'm not sure on the size of the entrees. I'm pretty sure they're not going to be those big honkin' plates you get someplace like Chili's, though.

[MiniDriver]

Lemon tarts are often deceptively calo-riffic because they add tons of sugar to counterbalance the tart lemon.  I'd probably go with the creme brulee, but I am intrigued by the goatcheesecake.

[onawhim]

I think all the desserts are probably pretty equal honestly and you should just count it as a splurge if you are going to eat one  

[debbatx]

I'm torn. I love me some lemon tart, but chocolate mousse is my other not-so-secret love. Hmmmmm.

[onawhim]

I was going to suggest the mousse    The food looks great. 

[debbatx]

I'm really looking forward to it. At the same time, I'd like to make decent choices. Makes it easier to enjoy the wine and the dessert if I'm not hating myself for the entree.

[Run Amok]

Goatcheese cake is amazing! What I would probably do is ask if anyone wanted to split a dessert with me. Then I would only eat a few bites of my half. I am very practiced at eating only a few bites of restaurant dessert.

Even if the portions aren't huge... they are probably still significantly more than you want. Even if the portion size it self isn't twice as big- you have to think there is way more fat and such than you'd use at home.

Here's how I've handled restaurant eating since I really got serious in December:
I don't order wine. I drink water. It's not worth it to me (even though I do like it). DH has gotten used to me "tasting" his wine. He's a good sport about it. =P
I don't order desert. If I'm in a social situation where ordering dessert is expected- I order it and then I only eat a bite or two. Then I take it home for DD and DH to eat.
I try and avoid the app/salad thing. Especially if I feel like dessert is inevitable.
I order an appetizer for my entree and don't let them make me an "entree size" portion. Then I only eat 1/2- 2/3 of it. Or I'll have a salad for my dinner. Usually the toppings on the salad rival what my entree at home would be anyway.

[debbatx]

Those are all excellent tips, RA - thanks! We don't go out to nicer restaurants very often, so I'm not very good at this. Especially not the part about only eating a few bites of dessert. 

Yeah, no. I'm not good at that. (Doesn't mean I don't need to *get* good at it, just that I'm not.)

[Run Amok]

But, there is also room in life for celebrations and indulgence! I firmly believe that! So I choose my indulgent meals very carefully. This friends birthday might be worth it for you...and that is totally ok.

[onawhim]

But, there is also room in life for celebrations and indulgence! I firmly believe that! So I choose my indulgent meals very carefully. This friends birthday might be worth it for you...and that is totally ok.

Yes! 

[Natasha]

Help!!!!

I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night for a friend's birthday. This is the dinner menu: http://www.cipollina-austin.com/storage/DinnerMenurevised1-11-12.pdf

What should I get? I don't eat seafood. No way, no how, no exceptions. I will likely get a glass or two of wine, and I'm guessing there will also be some kind of dessert. If it's shared, I can just eat a small sliver of something, but I need to assume that I'll be drinking wine and eating dessert, so dinner itself needs to be on the lighter side of things.

Yum! How can you go wrong, it all looks good!

I guess you could do a salad or a small plate, but that looks splurge-worthy to me.

[debbatx]

But, there is also room in life for celebrations and indulgence! I firmly believe that! So I choose my indulgent meals very carefully. This friends birthday might be worth it for you...and that is totally ok.

I agree! I do, however, need to be very careful with myself, or *everything* turns into a celebration or indulgence, and that does me no good. Which is why I asked for thoughts. It all sounds delicious (well, except the seafood, but that's me), so pretty much anything would be an indulgence.

[Natasha]

I just made myself a green smoothie with banana, strawberries, pineapple, spinach, plain yogurt, and some kind of berry juice. Ugly/yummy.

[Roach]

I had old bay steamed shrimp ( about 1 cup)

rasberries, blackberries, blueberries (about 1 cup)

4 oz Activia low fat yogurt.

and I'm weaning out starches......

I've also started daily's of Krill Oil, Fish Oil, and baby aspirin.

that and working out seem to have dropped me about 3 lbs......

[debbatx]

I like RA's suggestion about splitting a full-size entre with someone else.  I do this a lot, but you have to be with people who don't mind the idea of sharing food.  It's a great way to counter the tendency of some restaurants to super-size everything.  As for the lemon tart, that will cost you around 300 calories.  That's approximately three glasses of wine!  Priorities

 

So maybe I'll skip dessert.... The only person going whom I know well is the birthday girl, and I'm not going to ask her to split a plate with me at her celebration! If the entrees are huge, I'll ask for a doggie bag, even though they charge for them. 

[onawhim]

So maybe I'll skip dessert.... The only person going whom I know well is the birthday girl, and I'm not going to ask her to split a plate with me at her celebration! If the entrees are huge, I'll ask for a doggie bag, even though they charge for them. 

You can always order coffee instead of dessert so you have something to do and are not just sitting there while people eat. 

[debbatx]

I probably will. I love coffee.

[omega lambda]

I like RA's suggestion about splitting a full-size entre with someone else.  I do this a lot, but you have to be with people who don't mind the idea of sharing food.  It's a great way to counter the tendency of some restaurants to super-size everything.  As for the lemon tart, that will cost you around 300 calories.  That's approximately three glasses of wine!  Priorities

We've been doing this for awhile.  There's a burger joint near our house that has the best burgers and fries.  The portions are huge and I don't even want to know how many calories are in it.  We split it right down the middle.  Except the fries.  I haven't gotten used to Mr. YM's habit of holding the burger in one hand and eating all the fries first.  I'm just the opposite, so unless I carve out my portion and threaten him with bodily harm, I get shortchanged. 

[debbatx]

We've been doing this for awhile.  There's a burger joint near our house that has the best burgers and fries.  The portions are huge and I don't even want to know how many calories are in it.  We split it right down the middle.  Except the fries.  I haven't gotten used to Mr. YM's habit of holding the burger in one hand and eating all the fries first.  I'm just the opposite, so unless I carve out my portion and threaten him with bodily harm, I get shortchanged. 

Hah! There's a delicious burger place here (Mighty Fine, all you Austin people), and they are DELICIOUS. I do.not.share my burger or fries from Mighty Fine, except *maybe* a couple of fries with Reid. DH and I would probably end up divorced if we tried to split from there. We don't go often, though. It's something like 3 days of WW Points for a burger and fries.