Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Visiting Old Places, Having a new mindset

So I mentioned in the comments that I was away last week. The two sons and I took a road trip to Kentucky, Illinois and Kansas. Roadtrips present certain challenges for me, and this was the first time I actually paid attention to what those challenges actually are and the way I deal with them.

1. Thinking "I can eat whatever I want when we stop for gas. It's just a snack." No. I can't. I can't because I usually pick the absolute most disgustingly big chocolate bar or some other equally large and calorie packed confection. So this time I bought a small bag of Sugar Free York Peppermint patties. And when the kids asked, "Can we have some." I said, "YES!" this meant there were fewer patties for me to put in my piehole. Always a good thing.

2. Krispy Kreme donuts are the devil. And if you eat them, you must ration them. If you ration them long enough they will stay in the box in your car for 3 days, and at the end of that period, they will gross you out. If they gross you out, then you can throw them away easily.

2 a. It's stupid to buy donuts you will throw out in three days. Don't waste your money like that. Instead buy two donuts. And only two donuts. No more, no less. One donut will leave you wanting more, two donuts are just enough. Three donuts put you over the Hill of Remorse. Trust me on this.

3. Tough shit if your restaurant server looks at you funny when you ask them to box up half of your meal before it is served to you. Fuck 'em. They aren't fat. When they fifty pounds heavier, they can dispapprove of my request and give me a tough time. But for now, box up half of my food and leave your condemnation of me in the kitchen.

4. Hit a big box store and buy your own snacks for the road. This will stop the temptation of buying the Reeses Peanut Butter cups when you fill up your car. Repeat after me, "Filling stations are for filling you car, not your face."

5. One bite of something you love, which is utterly not good for you or on your food program, tastes the same as if you had eaten the entire thing. Decide which is more important, losing the pounds or having an entire piece of cake at the Bar Mitzvah. Okay, maybe that is a bit more specific than what everyone else is doing, but you get the picture.

At the end of the trip, following these fab 5, I lost weight instead of gaining it. Considering my goal was to be down 2 lb's this week, I think I did fairly well. Even if I don't do the math.

What did you do differently this week? Or will you do anything differently next week?

6 comments:

Liz Jimenez said...

Good for you! As hard as it is to eat right in your own environment, it's way harder to do so while on the road or any other time when you don't have complete control over meal options.

I think one of the hardest things for me is no. 5. It's SO hard for me to stop eating something that I really like/want! A life-long struggle, for sure.

And you're right, Krispy Kremes are the devil. Not only is it entirely too easy to eat a LOT of them, but even one will send my blood sugar so far out of whack that the rest of the day is frequently shot. Glad they closed the one shop in Massachusetts!

Nancy said...

GREAT list!! I'm with Goddess...#5 is killer. If I like it - and it's in front of me - it's down the hatch. There's no such thing as one bite.

Laurie said...

Congratulations, Devra. The Midwest is harder territory than the Deep South, I reckon (lmao) because of the lack of seafood beyond scrod cod. The years I lived in Ohio were quite difficult. Hi Denny's and Steak & Shake, I love you.

Also, I visit Dunkin Donuts regularly for my iced coffee fix. Maybe once every other week I will allow myself a strawberry frosted or maple doughnut depending on my random craving. The hilarity when I order one! The woman cannot deal. She's like, "No, you have two, it's the same price. I'll give you two." I think she thinks I can't afford it? When I'm buying a three dollar coffee? Or maybe I just look like one doughnut simply won't do.

I usually just eat the top of it anyway. I have issues.

Lisa said...

OK...I am the one who sits in the back of the class, and asks stupid questions. Are we supposed to post our weight loss, or, um, maybe a slight weight gain, weekly, monthly, never? Did you tell us where to do this in your first post, and maybe I was too lazy (that would involve hitting my back key, and various other key strokes) to search this out? I actually set up a spreadsheet, albeit small, to get this thing going and now I don't know where to post my info.

{sue} said...

Oooh... I ate a Skor bar at every single gas stop this summer. No wonder my clothes aren't fitting. I seriously need Dr. Oz sitting in the car next to me because I can rationalize ANYTHING. (Riding in the car with 4 kids is stressful... Skor bars relax me...)

whymommy said...

I'm so proud of you!

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