As you are aware, my biggest problem in my weight loss journey is learning the proper portion sizes of my meals. I used to really enjoy bingeing and eating mounds of food until I could no longer move. I started thinking today about my lifestyle and noted that I eat out a lot. In fact, most of my social life involves going out to eat at restaurants, drinking at bars and pubs, and the like. When I order a plate of pasta at one of my favourite restaurants, I get heaps of noodles bathing in cream. Weight watchers would probably calculate my favourite pasta dish at Earls as 75 points. So, can I really blame myself for over-eating and abusing proper portion sizes - or can I blame it on society, after all, Earls would probably consider a weight watchers dinner portion as a mere appy.
As a result of this enlightening thought, I've come to realize that I truly have to alter my lifestyle. Cut back on the bars, restaurants and eating-fests and get more into healthy activities, such as baseball, swimming, etc. The problem here is that all my good friends follow the same pattern as me (that is the restaurants, bars, eating), but none of them are fat. I'm certainly not willing to drop my friends, and I really wouldn't like to "cut-back" on hanging out with them. This really feels like a rock and hard place situation, and I am going to have to put some more thought into this - perhaps come up with a creative way to address this issue. I want to remain healthy but I also don't want to drop my friends.
lastly, completely unrelated - At the gym tonight, I did 90 minutes of cardio and when I stepped on the scale it was flickering back and forth between 220.0 and 219.0, but finally settled on 220.0. So very close and am feeling uber motivated to break the 220's.
I hear you on this one. Every single time I go out with my friends we go out to eat.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I have to think of going out as normal, as in, it's not a special occasion tonight so I have no valid reason to splurge on anything fabulous. So sometimes I just get a super low point soup or something boring like that :)
It's so hard though, but my friends have been pretty supportive of what I eat when we go out, I'm sure yours will be too.
Good luck and good job with your work out!
I have the same problem as you also. Everytime my friends and I get together its about eating and drinking. For me it all boils down to planning. If I can I find out the resteraunt ahead of time, check out their menu online and plan what I can eat. I also plan how many glasses of wine/beer I can have. Alternate with water. I'm also a big believer in eating before I go out. Even if its a plate of carrots, an apple or a cheese string it prevents me from over doing it. I hate arriving at a resteraunt starving and consuming the entire bread basket.
ReplyDeleteI have never cut out my friends, they are my life line! But I have cut out all the crap I don't need to eat while eating out with them. It takes some work, but its duable. Remember we do not live to eat, we eat to live. Love your posts, Happy Hump day!