[Hungry2Live]

ok girls.. I’m gonna need a WORLD of will power tomorrow. From October 2005 until March of this year I worked for FEMA helping the people from hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. Before that i was helping Katrina evacuees at the Reliant astrodome shelters working for Red Cross. I have to say that during those times is when I gained a whole bunch of weight. The emotional and physical stresses of the job, and then all my co-workers ordering food ALL the time.. all that combined made me into a big ole mess. Anyway that job ended in March when the Disaster Recovery Center I was working at in Houston closed down. Well now some of my co-worker friends of mine have invited me out with them tomorrow. My FEMA supervisor is leaving this week back to Washington from where he is from, I haven’t seen them since March so I’m excited to go. BUT I’m soooo worried that this will trigger a binge. I love them but they remind me a whole lot of how badly we ate and how many food binges they triggered (unknowingly) on me. The last time I met up with these same people, we went to Bennigan’s and at the suggestion of one of them I got the Monte Carlo sandwich..OH MY GOD, that thing was unbelievably huge and fattening. then we ordered two desserts and shared them. Today is my 12th day binge free so I’m soooo worried that it’ll get ruined tomorrow. any advice, any any?? wish me luck please I’m gonna need it

here are some pics of me during my time at FEMA.. i have loads but this kinda shows how my weigh fluncuated:

this is me at the start of my job:



middle (i‘m the one at the far right end with the hand on my hip lol):



around christmas time I was the one that organized all the food for our party:



typical me right here, holding food in my had. this is when i started getting really fat



here are me in some of my “skinnier days” although I used to be even smaller than that:

[Mrs Snark]

You're beautiful in all your pictures, by the way.

My advice is to have a plan. Find out where you are going, look at the menu ahead of time and decide what you are going to eat, then (the hard part) stick to it. And drink a ton of water before you go and while you are there to keep your hands and mouth busy.

[HarpoChicoGroucho]

Oooh, I'm jealous, I so wanted to volunteer during the disaster, but never got the opportunity.

I'm going to give you some very hypocritical advice (because I never do this): order something healthy! Don't be influenced by your friends and order a salad or something. Tell them you are dieting and you would appreciate it if they didn't try to convince you to eat something that would be off plan for you.

Eating out and eating something bad always triggers a binge for me. When I eat out, I always order something bad and then I go home and binge some more. My goal for my next meal out is to order something healthy!!!!

Good luck!!!

[alextucker]

eat before you go and enjoy your time with your friends....just have a drink and a salad if you feel like you need to eat while they are eating....tell them the truth....being around you guys made me fat....I gotta stay on program!!

[Hungry2Live]

THANKS to everyone for such good advice.. I didn't even think about calling and asking where we were going!! I am going to do that now. That should help alot because then i can prepare for what I'm going to get. Part of me wanted to reward myself for being so good so far.. but if there is one thing I have learned through my ED journey.. it's to NEVER REWARD YOURSELF WITH FOOD!!! lol. it never works and leads to binges. oh and yes I'll drink plenty of water one of favorite things to drink at restaurants is ice tea with splenda, i drink soo much of it my friends are always amazed at how many times the waitress has to come and give me refills!! lol

[WaterWater]

As someone in the Katrina effected area, THANK YOU for your service! It means so much to all of us that people gave so abundantly in so many different ways!

You have gotten some fabulous advice (and I am going to use some of these suggestions myself the next time I go out to eat!). GOOD LUCK!

[ellis]

Hungry2Live, you are beautiful!
Good idea calling ahead... and good for you for doing such important work. We'll be thinking about you tomorrow...

[Hungry2Live]

Hey girls!! I did OK tonight. We didn't go to a restaurant. When I called, my friend told me food would be taken there by other people (it was a business meeting first, then a get together). Anyway I think I did alright, I had about 8 small/medium meatballs though, that was the worst I did. other than that I had about a cup of potato salad, 4 crackers, a rolled up piece of deli turkey, and three cubes of cheese. I could have done alot worse, so I'm proud of myself. The good thing is that I didn't eat lunch today so over it's not too bad cuz that was my lunch and dinner. I have to say even though y'all probably didnt know it, you are all motivation for me, because I really wanted to come back here and post that I did good. so thanks!

[dalai_lala]

Hey, congratulations on getting through that unscathed! Potluck-style situations can be very dangerous....

-lala

[ellis]

You did great!! Good going, girl!!

[BelleDeJour]

Great show of will power! Fighting the urge to eat too much is hard enough when you're alone, but when other people all around you are eating... yikes. For some reason I always get this feeling like, "Well if they can eat it then so can I".