Day 65 Butter? No? Are You Sure? How About Some Butter?

Day 65

Butter? No? Are You Sure? How About Some Butter?

For some reason the days seem to be flying by lately. Maybe it's because it's a busy time of year. I'm not complaining, because when you're making progress one day at a time, you want the days to fly by as quickly as possible! It is a one day at a time kind of journey. Every day is different. Some days are really easy and some days are very challenging. If you've been a regular reader of this blog you know that I've had my share of both. Today was fairly simple. It had all the potential in the world to be a really challenging day, but I had a plan, and I stuck with the plan well. Planning daily strategy is one thing I never did before and it's certainly one of the keys to my success so far. I had a solid plan going in to our visit with friends at the barbecue restaurant. The plan was to not order the all you can eat ribs. No problem. My plan was simple really, order a chicken breast or maybe turkey, be careful with the sides, and watch the appetizer closely. And I did. We ordered some chips and salsa with some cheese dip. The chips were small, so I had to make an educated guess on the calories. By comparing these chips to the calorie count of Tostitos, I determined that I could safely call my eight or nine small chips and dip 200 calories. I ordered the chicken breast with a baked potato plus sour cream. Yes, sour cream! Two tablespoons of the stuff is only 60 calories, and well worth it if you ask me! When I asked for the potato, the waitress went down the list of items for topping the spud. She even asked me if I wanted butter twice. I said no to the butter two times. What about cheese? No. What about butter? I said no already. What about bacon? No. So just sour cream? Yes. Wow...was the waitress drinking or something? The answer to that question was yes by the way...I'm totally serious, after an intoxicated friend of the waitress groped Rachel, she came over to apologize for the behavior, and after looking around to make sure no other co-workers could hear, she admitted that she had several mixed drinks right before her shift. We were all wondering if she acted so hyper-happy all the time, or what, because she was really loud and smiley. Anyway, Neal ordered the AYCE Ribs, and he gave it a good go, but stopped short of the record. We all had a fun time, and the intoxicated waitress and intoxicated groper friend of the waitress made it even more interesting, and perhaps a little uncomfortable a few times. When Irene and Rachel went to the bathroom, I told Neal to watch out, the intoxicated groper would be coming over any second, and sure enough just as I said it, here she came bumping up against Neal, then sitting down and apologizing to us for her behavior. It was very funny. We'll never forget this restaurant visit! Oh, and one perk of having an intoxicated server, to-go boxes for the AYCE Ribs!?! That can't be normal policy for an all you can eat deal. Rachel also gave me a calorie count book, thanks Rach! I will admit, I did look over the desert menu with a weak thought or two crossing my mind. They had some amazing looking deserts that were so big, you would have to share with someone. But I was good. I knew that I had spent 800 calories on my entire meal and there just wasn't room in the calorie budget for a double fudge pecan brownie sundae with real whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry on top. It looked really good! But hey, I know what that taste like, I've had something similar before, and I'll have something like that again someday, just not tonight. Not enough calories left! After we left the restaurant we visited with my mom, grandma, and Kelli for a few minutes, then headed back home. On the way out of town I used the last of my calories on a soft serve cone from McDonalds. It may not have been a Quadruple Fudge Deathly Sinful Brownie Sundae with nuts, real whipped cream, and a cherry on top, but it was really good and creamy and satisfying. It was a good evening!

The best thing about counting calories is this: Nothing is off limits completely. I know that I can have just about anything depending on the amount. So I never feel deprived. And I never get that “want something you can't have” kind of effect. Because I can have it if my calorie budget for the day will allow and I decide to invest the calories. Again, it's all about good choices. I decided against having the ribs tonight because I felt it was a bad calorie value. I probably could have had the same calories with a two rib plate had I dropped the chips, salsa, and cheese dip. I budgeted my calories early in the day to allow for plenty of calories at dinner, and it worked perfectly.

I just talked to Amber, can you believe that girl just walked another 5K tonight! She's doing amazing! She definitely is dedicated, and I'm so proud of her! Keep up the good work Amber! I better retire for the evening, Day 66 is fast approaching! Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean