So I get an at home breakfast this morning then we're off for a big celebration weekend (my birthday, our wedding anniversary and I passed my architect's lincensing exam) so that will be 8 meals in restaurants! Luckily I'll have access to a running trail and breakfasts will be easy (oatmeal one day and an egg white omelet the next) and today shouldn't be too bad (chicken pita w/ salad at Daphene's Greek Cafe and a salad at Lawry's Carvery) but I don't know where we are eating the rest of the weekend and I have a weekness for martini's and dessert! Oh yeah and TOM is due today. So I'm know I'm blowing this completely out of propotion, I know what to do, I've been doing this forever now, but I guess I'm just hoping you all will wish me luck on making good choices when I order and to stop eating when I'm full because just thinking about it is giving me insane anxiety. I really can't wait until this all just feels second nature to me...I don't know why I still stress about all this stuff...maybe because I'm close to goal and every salty restaurant meal makes me retain water for a few days and pushes that goal farther away. Ok, wish me luck! Thanks all!

Good luck AND good choices, ncuneo!

Cheers,

J

You'll do better than you think you will.

Just take your time looking at the menu & thinking over your choices.

Breathe.

And remember you're entitled to eat exactly what you want. Ask the server questions. If he or she can't answer, ask them to find out. Tell them what you want -- what you're picturing the dish is going to be like -- and confirm that they've heard you correctly.

Then, during the meal, sip your water, take your time, talk with your dinner mates. Remember it's really more about spending time with them & making a fueling stop.

And remember in a few weeks the meal will be a distant memory & there will probably be no traces of it left in your system.

Because you're in this for the long haul. Not just for the next time you stand on the scale. You are thinking long-term. With that perspective, a little blip from this brief foray outside your own completely controlled meals is okay.

(It would be harder if you suddenly took up a career as a restaurant critic ... but we're only talking about a couple meals here. None of them by itself is going to instantly inflate you back up to your highest weight & catapault you back into the world of Your Fat Former Self.)

First off, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary and Congrats on Passing your Exam! Awesome!

Secondly, 115lbs! Wow! You should be giving us advice, that's incredible!

I'm sure you will do just fine. Lately if I'm going to a restaurant right after a meal, if I'm tempted by my DH having desert, I'll pop in a couple of tic tacs (spearmint flavour) and that either takes away my craving or at least lets me know that if I try a bite of his desert it won't taste good with the minty concoction going on in my mouth. Or a have a cup of decaf herbal peppermint tea (good for digestion too).

Good luck! You can do it!

You'll do fine. Remmeber you'll have a bit extra weight from TOM and from the extra salt in the restaurant food. But you know you can make good, healthy choices and enjoy yourself. Just rmemeber that anything showing on the scale when you return is probably just the extra water weight.

If you need choice ideas - check out the guides on Dotti's site.
http://www.dwlz.com/restaurants.html

I just went through this on vacation for a family reunion. Restaurants, restaurants, restaurants!

I managed to maintain (within a few lbs) and as soon as I got home I got fresh groceries and drank lots of water. That got me over the travel bloat.

You will do fine -- just take it one thing at a time.

GL!
A.