Ok. I never said all of these posts will be profound! But sometimes I will offer just a tid-bit advice, that hopefully will speak to you.
Do you ever wrestle with yourself when you go out to dinner with friends??
Ah, the menu. The scrumptious looking pictures & tasty combinations galore!!
You know what you SHOULD have, but you are more aware of what you WANT.
The rationalization begins. ”Oh, it’s Friday night.” ”I deserve a night off.” ”It’s not THAT bad.” ”I’ll be good tomorrow.”
Sure, all those sayings could be very true, especially just needing a darn break from it all!
The only thing is – you wont be taking a “break”. You will be setting yourself up for yet another cycle, and maybe a rough nights sleep, if you know the food won’t agree with you later.
I recently was in this situation. I was sitting at Chili’s with my boyfriend, and ordered a bunless hamburger with lettuce, tomato, etc. Of course, I get “a side”. Deep fried french fries. ”Oh, just this once….” sets in. I ask the waitress what other sides there are. Cheese Mashed Potatoes. Well, I don’t eat dairy, and I know potatoes make me drunk. Then I saw on the sides – “Steamed Veggies”. Aghhhhh!!! The right thing to do – but it feels SO WRONG!!!
Well, one thing that helps going out to eat, is to KNOW AHEAD OF TIME, that you aren’t going to play any games with yourself. NO MATTER WHAT. I am not promoting a specific diet , per-se, here on this webiste. FOR ME personally , I find that eating protein, veggies, healthy oils, and very little carbs works best. This combination keeps my blood sugar somewhat in tact. So I know going into a restaurant, this is what I can have.
Soooo, to make a long story short – I ordered the veggies. I rarely get red meat, so I was looking forward to eating that. But the veggies sounded horribly boring. I was kinda bummed.
So here is the whole point of my “Butta” post. I asked the waitress for some butter. I’m not saying that butter is the best thing in the world for you. I personally don’t eat dairy because I am a singer, and it clogs up my voice. BUT I do have butter sometimes.
Let me tell you this : Just having a little butter on the side of steamed broccoli made ALL THE DIFFERENCE!! I don’t know why exactly, but I felt this was really an important tool in our Beat Food / Sugar Cravings arsenal. When you are faced with ordering “THE SIDE” at restaurants, get the veggies. Skip the greasy fries, no matter what. And get a little side o’ butta’, and it might totally make your day!!
Cheers to your health & encouragement to stay away from deep fried sides!!!!!
Zoe Z.
UPDATE : I bought a new product yesterday, and it’s REALLY GOOD! It is made by Land O Lakes, and it’s called “Butter with Olive Oil” spread. Here are the ingredients : sweet cream, olive oil, salt. That’s it. 45% less saturated fat than butter, and 0 Trans Fat. {It would be more ideal if it was organic, and was SEA salt, but I’ll make due.} It’s kind of lighter and fluffier than regular butter. GREAT alternative. Put some of THIS on your steamed broccoli! Yummm. Of course, it might be sort of awkward to bring a tub of it in your purse to a restaurant, so this tip might be best utilized for home eating. However, if you knew me in the offline world, you would know I bring Olive Oil to restaurants for my salads! I will save that for another post 