Going out to dinner -- to Ruby Tuesdays. Am I allowed to eat anything on the low-carb menu?

I was thinking Church Street Chicken or Creole Catch. Is that cool?

Jenne - Remember that you aren't counting carbs; you are counting the types of food. The cheese on the chicken is probably not low fat but generally I'd say its a good bet. The creole might be a little better because you can get your omega-3's.

Get your green sides and they have the cauliflower we've been dishing about for days! Don't stress - just remember your good foods and have a blast! That's the beauty of the SBD!

Hey Jenn - Sorry I didn't get a chance to check in here earlier and help you out with your dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. I hope you made some great choices!

I've been eating out like a fiend since I started on this diet and love that there are so many choice in restaurants.

I'm so glad you posted your experience with the mashed cauliflowers. I'd read about them in the book and poo-poo'ed that idea right off the bat. Now I'm going to have to give it a try!

Keep up the great work! Soon, you'll be on Phase II and get to be as excited as I am over cantaloupe!

Hey all --

I got the Creole fish thingy [broiled tilapia] with brocolli and the cauliflower [mine is better!]. It was yummy. I did had a taste of the low carb cheesecake - is that bad? I didn't have a whole slice or even half. Just a bit and actually liked it -- which is fab considering I don't like cheesecake.

It sounds like you had a wonderful dinner...and Phase I appropriate too. (Well, except that bite of the low carb cheesecake!) Don't worry about it, you'll be fine!

Jenne... glad you found something to eat! Sorry... I've never been there, and don't know the menu...

Re: the cheesecake -- I thought it would be ok since the "crust" was made of nuts, it was "low-sugar" and we're allowed ricotta and such.

Oh well. Now I feel horrible. I wanted to have a clean 2 weeks and wouldn't have eaten it I knew it wasn't ok.

D@mn

OK -- instead of starting a new "Whenever Jenn Screws Up" thread, I will continue posting here.

See, in my job, I go to a LOT of events. This evening was no exception. Only I was so rushed this morning, I kind of forgot to eat. I hate to ask and hate to list it, but this is what I ate today -- mind you I had limited resources. How much damage did I do?

1 tablespoon peanut butter and 1/3 medium cucumber for breakfast [it's what I had on my way to work]

lunch was with my staff and I had no choice in picking- I had lettuce and cucumbers and mushrooms with balsamic -- I put some pre-made tuna from the "salad bar" on it [it was a SANDWICH PLACE, ugh] but it was gross and I worried about the ingredients -- I had maybe 2 oz of it.

I had like 60 pistachios. I know, bad, but I wasn going to a dinner event and was HUNGRY and worried about my eating there. ANd i didn't get home until just now so waiting to eat when the whole program REVOLVES around dinner was not an option.

Ok--the dinner. Salad that already had dressing on it [vinegarette of some kind]--spring mix, 2 grape tomatoes and some bleu cheese with walnuts. I tried to subtly wipe off some dressing. And although I probably should have picked off the walnuts since I had soo many nuts today, I didn't. I also passed on the 4 kinds of bread and butter.

The dinner was a small serving of some fish [broiled or baked] and chicken, only it was half in a pool of mango something sauce. Now, I again wiped as much sauce off as I could and I didn't eat the parts that were covered. There was some carrot mixture thing I didn't eat, and 3 aparagus [asparuguses?] that I did. Dessert was an oooey, gooey, chocolate souflet with blueberries and chocolate sauce. As well as a take away of 4 chocolate truffles.

I said no thanks to both and had coffee with equal instead.

I am hungry now, but am not going to eat until a good breakfast tomorrow. But I think I did a good job today considering my resources. I hate to think I messed up my 10 days of hard work!

Sorry, Jenn...didn't see this! I think you did remarkably well given the circumstances. Aside from the mango sauce, which you managed to eat around, it doesn't sound so bad. For god's sake, woman...you passed up FOUR kinds of bread, CHOCOLATE dessert, and TRUFFLES!!!! You deserve an award in my opinion!

Don't beat yourself up over this. Life is going to happen regardless of whether or not we're following an eating plan. You did the best you could and tried to make good choices. That's all you could do. You got right back on track, so don't worry about it.

A dear friend recently told me, when I was struggling with a decision, "Always make the best possible choice in any circumstance." I've used that many times since, and it actually makes sense!