[Step]

I learned a VERY important lesson yesterday … when it comes to eating on-plan: you need to expect the unexpected and be prepared to deal with it!! Almost every day, I bring my lunch to work and yogurt for an afternoon snack. Yesterday, I opened my Stoneyfield Chocolate Underground yogurt and it didn’t look “right”. I stirred it up and sure enough … the stuff was missing from the bottom. (I called the 800 number on the container … they’re sending me coupons for FREE yogurt!) I tasted it, but wasn’t thrilled about it. I knew that if I ate it I wouldn’t be happy and would be scavenging for food all afternoon. I felt “strong enough” to go to the vending machine and buy yogurt, not junk. But, when I got there, the refrigerated machine was malfunctioning and I couldn’t buy it. Now what?!?! I usually have instant oatmeal in my desk (for breakfast) so I thought, OK, if you are really hungry and not just eating out of habit, have oatmeal. I opened my desk drawer and noticed small cans of pineapple I had stashed there “just-in-case” (and forgotten about!). And that was my afternoon snack … it wasn’t exactly what I planned and it wasn’t the same nutrition content of yogurt, but it actually had fewer calories and was much better than lots of OTHER choices I could have made!!

So that was my NSV for the day.

[chequitagirl]

congrats steph on the good food choice and way to be prepared.

[Sandi]

You are soooo right. Over the weekend I had made good breakfast and lunch choices. But then as we were shopping I was getting hungry...I had made a mistake, I didn't plan for a afternoon snack. The junk was looking better and better. I managed to hold off, but I should have planned for an snack. I have realized that the worst mistake I can make is to let myself get too hungry. I try to keep my snacks between 100 - 150 calories (I count calories) so here at work I always have a few yogurts in the fridge, soup in my drawer and then I bring my planned snack. Because sometimes you just don't want that banana!

[Goddess Jessica]

I have to say being prepared and listening to your body are some of the most important lessons I have learned. There has been so many times that I have insisted that I wasn't hungry and that I would just skip those extra calories in my afternoon snack. It sounded good when I did it but then I would home starving and eat something unplanned before dinner! How aggrevating!

Other times I've been soooo grumpy and angry and planning on eating all the junk i could find but instead taking a time-out for a snack and seeing how much my attitude changes with my sugar levels. Man, do I feel sorry for the Cute Boyfriend to have to determine if I'm psycho or hungry!

[Monkeybabies]

Like Dr. Phil says..."either you get it or you don't" and it looks like Steph gets it!!! Go Steph!

[Jennelle]

I had a similar thing happen to me today. I didn't bring my lunch to school and just figured I'd go on and eat in the cafeteria. Well, it turned out they were serving pizza, which is one of my abstinence foods. (I absolutely cannot eat it. It triggers a binge like a beer would for an alcoholic.) I about panicked, and decided that I just wouldn't eat lunch. Of course, a split second later I knew that THAT wasn't an option either; restricting also has the effect of either causing me to binge or sending me into an anorexic slide. I went back in and said to the lunch lady, "I hope you don't think I'm weird, but can I just skip the pizza and get just broccoli and potatoes?" She said that they had leftover chef salads from yesterday and asked me if I wanted one. My hero.

[gonzostar]

great stories!

here's mine: yesterday david and i prepared the crock pot with dehydrated peas for pea soup, chicken cubes, carrots, etc. good plan, right? not when you never turn it on! so we got home and were like, oops.

i had my first OA meeting in less than 30 minutes, so i had to go. i went to taco bell, actually - but i got one soft taco and one bean burrito because i know how many calories that was. and my day turned out great.

and today? we had the pea soup but it was overdone. kinda gross, in fact. so i needed something else since i didn't eat 2 cups of it like planned. i grabbed a special k eggo waffle, toasted it, and topped it with some sugar free jam. i felt cool!