Today was my son's preschool sing-a-long lunch and I blew it...nowhere near the way I would have before trying to lose, but I didn't stick to my plan and I feel terrible right now. My one rule was no sugar, because sugar makes me crave other foods and it's a nonending cycle from there. Besides one small veggie tray, there was nothing healthy there, and I mean nothing! Even the veggies were all in casseroles, except one small thing of corn that was literally floating in butter I barely put anything on my plate, just very small portions of a couple things I know I like a lot (had already decided I would just limit portions), and planned on going home to have a salad.

Then Tyler wanted dessert and I only took one plate for him, but they had cheesecake, which is my absolute biggest downfall, I love love love it, and they had cherries to go on top, which is like heaven to me...so, reasoning to myself that the slices were so small it wouldn't hurt, and I had the smallest slice on the platter with two cherries on top, just a drizzle of the cherry juice.

I didn't go back for more, but I am disappointed I couldn't make myself pass that up. I feel like maybe I can't do this after all

Now tomorrow I have my daughter's thanksgiving lunch at her school and I won't have options, you eat what they put on the tray. Would it be horribly rude if I packed a salad and just ate that, while everyone else eats the thanksgiving lunch? I just don't want to eat that fattening stuff two days in a row, ya know?

I don't think it would be rude at all to bring a salad to the Thanksgiving lunch. Lots of people have dietary restrictions for a wide variety of reasons. The only thing I might suggest is to ask your daughter if it would bother her; kids can get embarrassed when they feel that they stick out from the crowd for some reason.

Worst comes to worst, portion control can get you through a lot of tight spots. (no pun intended.)

Oh, PLEASE be easier on yourself!

Look, you made a choice you'd rather not have made. I hereby invite anyone on these boards who has, in their weight loss journey, NEVER made a choice they'd rather not have made to raise their hands.

We aren't going to have any takers on that, trust me. Everyone, from the people just starting to the people who are at goal, makes some food decisions they aren't happy about sometimes. It is a fact of life.

One major difference, in my opinion and experience, between the people who successfully lose weight despite those slip ups and those whose slipups progress into longer periods of being off plan, is what you do afterward. My approach to a food slip up was always to say "Wow, I wish I hadn't made that choice. Oh well. Back on plan". That was step 1. Step 2 was coming up with a plan to avoid it being a big deal in the future. Sometimes, that was -planning- off-plan meals so I could split a dessert with friends at a restaurant. Sometimes, it was offering to bring foods to potluck type events that I knew I could eat, ESPECIALLY desserts since those were my weakness. I learned from the original "oops", then put a plan in place to minimize it in the future. Maybe at events where you know that you are going to be facing dessert temptation, you pack a low cal pudding cup in your bag. Maybe you bring something everyone can enjoy that is on your plan. The solutions you come up with are all up to you.

But you did NOT fail! You had an "oops" moment. Learn, and move on.

Lots of support coming your way!

It's OK! Sounds like you're trying to get right back on track which is great! These things happen, so don't waste time feeling guilty for long.
Do you know if there will be -any- healthy choices tomorrow? If not then can you eat a huge salad beforehand so that you could at least fill up some before this meal?
In the end, I don't see anything wrong with bringing it with you discreetly. If anyone asks or comments you could always just say "Oh, I just had a huge craving for some salad today, and I don't know why... but it's really delicious. How's your meal?"

I think my downfall was going too hungry...and I assumed there would be some things I could eat, because we got a list of what everyone was bringing and lots of different veggies were listed, but they brought them in casserole form which I know is full of fat. Someone signed up for green beans, brought green bean casserole, etc. I was so hungry, so maybe i just need to eat before I go to the lunch tomorrow, maybe a small salad just so I'm not as hungry when I go.

Mandalinn~you are so right. I need to stop beating myself up and prepare mentally to go stronger tomorrow.

While you might regret having that cheesecake - I think it shows quite a bit of self discipline to still be able to portion it. The fact you can have the presence of mind to have a small piece in a moment of weakness (if it were me, I'd probably throw caution to the wind and pick the biggest one there) says to me that you most certainly can do this.

In regards to packing a lunch, I think that if you're worried there won't be anything safe for you to eat you should bring something you're positive about. In my work I attend frequent meetings with catered meals, and 9 times out of 10 the only thing I can safely eat and stay within my calorie limit is a plate full of lettuce. I've learned the hard way that if I resort to just taking smaller portions, I'll STILL eat more than I need when faced with the catering and my tummy rumbling. I started packing my own lunches for meetings, and while I'll occassionally get a question about it, it's usually just people curious about why I would pass up the free meal; they don't find anything rude about it.

HI ,You had a really bad day, but you only blow it if you give up on yourself!!
You can do this, no matter how long it takes.
And yes I would take my own food to the lunch tomorrow, I remember at my dd school's in Louisiana, they had the lunch thing too, and there was nothing for me to eat there( I don't eat turkey ), so I ended up just having some sweet potato , the next year I brought my own food. You need to do what is best for you, not what makes things look right.
cheryl

A quote I really like is:

Perfection is the highest form of self-abuse.

Please do not beat yourself up over this. It is ok. You are still doing so fantastic! It is what we do *most* of the time that is going to make a difference in the long term.

As for tomorrow, maybe have a protein snack before you go. The one thing for most school lunches is that they are portion controlled (and not very tasty, actually!) so you can actually do very well.

No self-flagellation allowed, 'kay?

Dude, don't be so hard on yourself. Like others have said, you showed WONDERFUL restraint and self-control by only indulging in a single, small piece. There's nothing wrong with cheesecake on a special occasion. I think you did a great job.

We all have our downfalls. I think you did great for not going back and getting more cheesecake!!! THink of it that way (heck if we didn't treat ourselves at least once in a while we'd all go bonkers).

When I know I have to go out and eat dinner somewhere where the food choices aren't always goign to be that great, I've been filling myself up first on low calorie/healthy foods. That way my tummy is more satisfied when I get there, and I'm not so tempted to eat all the junkies. But I would have to tellya... I would have gone for the cheesecake too

Don't beat yourself up for the cheesecake. Life is messy, complicated and unplanned stuff does happen. You did great - small sliver, small topping.

As far as lunch tomorrow - definitely bring your own. Tell your daughter that sometimes it's better to bring your own lunch. She might as well learn the lesson now so she will be well equipped to pack a turkey sandwich in the future when everyone in the office is ordering in pizza.

We all have these times when we give into temptation. But, if you pick yourself back up and keep going, you are on your way to winning this battle! One step at a time...heck, for me, its three steps forward and two steps back! But, forward progress is still forward progress...so, great job on thinking ahead for ways of dealing with lunch tomorrow. Pre-planning is a major way of avoiding unplanned treats and meals. When I know that something is coming up, I usually eat beforehand or I plan exactly what I will have when I get there. There is no reason that you should have to go off-plan unless you choose to do so.

I agree with the rest of the girls. That cheesecake was no big deal, if you choose to not make it one And I'm with Cheryl and Katheryne in the whole take your own lunch thing. I've started doing that at my workplace (since for meetings we invariably order in pizza) and although I felt self conscious in the beginning, no-one seemed to think I was rude. In fact, many told me they thought it was a good idea!

Thank you all so much for the great responses...I do feel a lot better about it now. I called a friend of mine who has a 2nd grader and has been to these lunches before, and she said I can ask for a chef salad instead of a tray, and they have a vinegarette dressing that isn't bad, so that is what I will do.

I haven't had time to exercise much today either, but will make myself get it in tonight before bed, even though I feel really worn out tonight. I noticed on the calendar it is a week before my period as well..so that is probably why I am getting so worked up, and why it was hard to pass up the cheesecake, go figure.

I do feel a lot better now, thanks everyone...you are invaluable to me

I agree with the others that having a small slice of cheesecake is something to be congratulated on! I didn't find success with weight loss until I lost the "all or nothing" mentality and decided to incorporate what I used to think were "forbidden" foods into my diet and work primarily on portion control instead of complete restriction. That might be a good choice for you too. Regardless, you should certainly move on and know that you can succeed even if you do consider this a slip.