Favorite victory so far!

I will preface this by saying, even in the years I have maintained a healthy weight, I have always, always, always struggled with social eating.

Most often: I overate, ate junk food, ate when I felt socially awkward, ate when I was having fun, and drank way way way too much. Even if I would have an "okay" event where I didn't go over calories too badly, I still felt bad about my choices. I would go into events wanting to deprive myself of the food and would end up going nuts all over it!

Sometimes I would even avoid a social dinner or gathering just to avoid this situation.

But, I have rededicated my energies this year (and this blog is a symptom of that) and wanted to really stop having these food issues.

Last night was a big test and a great victory!

One of our friends that we usually see every Wednesday for TV night had a birthday last night. He wanted to go out for beer, pizza, and wings for a few hours before heading to someone's house to watch TV with everyone. There were going to be 20+ people there. So a nice big party.

I was worried. Usually I would eat 2-3 pieces of pizza (because once I start eating that cheesy greasy heaven, I have a hard time regulating myself) and up to 6 wings, not to mention a beer or three! It is difficult to be in a bar/restaurant with 20 friends and not eat/drink what they are. Also, I just love a beer to loosen up and be silly: but it leads into a downhill tumble of lowered inhibitions and more food.

So I made a decision I have been making for a while: no drinks. Only once every two weeks or so will I have a few drinks with friends. Last night was not one of my nights. I looked at the menu online ahead of time (worst menu on earth: pasta, pizza, wings, burgers... ONE salad... I have never seen a less healthy menu in my life) and saw that the only option for me would be a grilled chicken sandwich. The huge table of my friends ordered 5 pizzas and 120 wings. I pulled the waitress to the side for a second and asked for the sandwich, with no fries or chips!

I sat through the wings without eating them. They brought out my sandwich with the pizzas, and my plate had a salad on it with green peppers and tomatoes!! The sandwich had dark greens and onions and tomatoes. So I got a pretty good meal in the end! (I also ripped off any excess bread on the roll... felt so in control of myself!)

The one allowance I let myself indulge in: five pieces of fried zucchini discs! MMMM. So good! Probably around 300 calories, but I loved the taste of fried in my mouth.. oh yes. I had room in my daily calories for it, so I did it! And it wasn't such a bad choice and didn't lead to me making more bad choices.

So I was at the bar for over three hours, had lots of laughs and nice times with my friends, no alcohol, a little bit of fried food, a healthy sandwich and salad! I also drank 3 glasses of water through the night.

I didn't lose out on a thing :D

This was a great victory for me. It gives me confidence that I can do this in the future. I can have nice, social times and not overeat and not eat junk.

It has been one of my scariest hurdles. I would eat right all week and blow it all on a terrible night of eating and drinking. And I would get stuck at the same weight for months. I know my body. I know I cannot over-indulge like that.

And now I know I don't have to.

So I ended the night and started the day pleased, feeling healthy and positive. Went to the gym, strength trained, a little cardio. And now a day of trying to write some of a chapter for my dissertation!

Much love, friends!