I have to go to a birthday event next week, and I found myself freaking out in advance
thinking
"OMG, what the heck can I eat there?????!"
Then later on, the answer hit my like a 2 by 4-- giving myself the excuse (a birthday party) to potentially splurge and/or binge was NOT the way to go. I have to remember my eating lifestyle (it's very close to the Mediterranean diet, minus the high fat dairy products, etc) at home needs to be the same as when I go out.
And then I began to relax a bit. Sure, I'll still have to check with the waiter to see that my fish/poultry/game meat is grilled/baked/or poached (I don't eat red meat since they tend to be higher in fat than I can handle). I'll also have to ask the waiter to put the salad dressing on the side (so I can skip it completely depending on what it is).
But the key was simply realizing:
"hey, what you eat at home, you have to apply it to outdoor events!"
A lot of people have encouraged me in the past when I was trying to lose weight and say "oh, it's okay-- one piece of [write fatting food item here] won't hurt."
Umm.... YEAH .... IT .... DOES! Because that just gives me the excuse to go crazy and plow into junk food long after I'm finished socializing with my friends/family members for the evening.
Other people would just look at me like I'm seriously depriving myself at the table when I order the foods I eat now.
It took awhile for me to get to the fact that yes, while food can be delicious -- in it's most natural or organic form (i.e. veggies, fruit, nuts, olives, poultry, fish and yes-- even dark bitter chocolate), it's meant to be fuel and not like a pack of twinkies off the shelf from a gas station.
How the heck did I get this far in my weight-loss progress before realizing this? LOL
~ tea
PS: I later googled about this subject and came across a great short article. Just type in
Irene Rubaum-Keller I Eat Everything I Want and I'm Thin