Surviving a World of Eating Out

Well! I've had a pretty successful few days of being back at it! Nothing too hardcore, but I have started making good choices once again!

Good Choice #1: Doing SOME kind of exercise every day- even if it's not what I "scheduled" to do. (These past few days it was walking for an hour each day)

A lot of my other good choices came into play with eating out.  As Britt has talked about in the past, our family is one that eats out A LOT. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT as in usually at least once a day...sometimes more. If you don't believe me, let me tell you how these last few days went down..

*Thursday- Breakfast and lunch were pretty safe with a cup of raisin bran and a cup of coffee, then a peanut butter and jelly. For dinner, however, my family decided that they had to try out the new restaurant that's in our area- the Texas Roadhouse. I opted out for grilled BBQ chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and corn.

Beware of the rolls! The best ones I've had, but for
a whopping 226 calories, 45 g of fat, and 41 carbs!

*Friday- I made it through the whole day with no offers to eat out, and I stayed home getting some cleaning and stuff done. Without fail, my family decided that they wanted to go out to Target and Starbucks around 8 PM. I contemplated, but decided to decline the offer to go out. Then, my mom offered to buy me a Starbucks and bring it home. Ahhhh! I haven't had a Starbucks since before I left for Haiti, so I'm already going through withdrawal! After a lot of contemplation, I finally said that I would pass. Let me tell you, that was challenging! haha

I stayed at home drinking water instead...
Hey, it was IN a Starbucks cup at least! :)

Saturday- I went out of town with my mom, sister, and niece to do some shopping and visiting with family. Of course, we had to eat out for lunch. Thankfully I talked them out of going to Red Robin, and we just went to Panera instead. I hadn't had my coffee, so I had a headache and needed one! I chose just a regular coffee instead of the delicious and calorie-filled cafe mocha that Panera has. I also chose a much healthier meal than I used to get, which was creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese. (Talk about fatening!) This time I chose a pick 2 with the Chopped BBQ Chicken Salad and Chicken Noodle Soup, with a whole grain baguette that I only ate like half of.

Salad= 250 cal, 11 fat, and 25 carbs
Soup= 60 cal, .5 fat, and 11 carbs
Baguette=180 cal, 1.5 fat, and 36 carbs (for a whole one)

Later that day, my mom and I were the only ones at home, so she decided that we should go to the other Roadhouse. Seriously!?! Ahhh! Well, instead of getting the fried mac and cheese bites that I love, I chose grilled BBQ chicken again, with salad and a delicious sweet potato (And it wasn't one of the loaded kinds...with pounds of marshmallows and brown sugar!)

Yummm!

Sunday- Well, sunday is an envitable eat-out day for my family. After church, we headed to Tim Hortons to get some donuts. NOT COOL. Well, I didn't refuse the donut, BUT! my boyfriend was with us, and I made him split one with me :)

For our actual lunch meal, my boyfriend and I went out. He said that he either wanted a Chinese Buffet or Fazoli's. Blah. So I told him there was no way that I was going to a Chinese buffet...a place where the unhealthy food is delicious and the healthy food stinks. Not to mention the BUFFET part. Uncontrolled portions! Ahhh! Run! haha So I chose Fazoli's. We always just get a pizza to share, so I just ate 2 pieces compared to probably the 4 pieces that I used to eat in the past! Yikes!

Once again, at the end of the night, my fam stopped at Mcdonalds to get ice cream. I refused the ice cream and got a small HI-C orange drink. Yay me!

To put it simply, I have to spend a lot of my dieting time trying to make good choices around the world of eating out. But I'm doing it! It's definitely not easy, but it will be worth it! :) Today I'm going to make a run to the grocery store and try to pick up a few healthy items to store at home for those times when I have to let my family go out without me! Wish me Luck! :)

<3, Linds