Tracking meals you didn't prepare

huv123

I find that eating food that I didn't prepare always starts a downward spiral I can't get out of.
This is especially difficult with the Jewish holiday period as I am a guest at different people's homes for multi-course meals that I really lose the plot.
I'm fine when I can control what I eat and can weigh everything down to the last gram but feel like I am out of control when I can't. While I start off making good decisions, I invariably end up in a binge or calorie blow out.
Any ideas on how to deal with this?

estherdragonbat

Shanna tovah! I feel your pain.

My solution was to take a diet break and eat at maintenance as best I could. I restricted myself to two slices of challah, didn't take seconds, and had homemade pareve sorbet for dessert instead of cookies/cake.

I went up 0.2 the following Sunday, but today, I was down 2.6, so I guess it was a normal fluctuation (hormones, water weight, last bit of suffering needed to fill the old year's measure... your guess is as good as mine.)

When I know in advance what's going to be, I pre-log. (Like at the kiddush after services at synagogue. There are certain staples whether there's a sponsor or not. And I've checked calories ahead in the database. Approximate, sure, but close enough. I know that if I have two 1" squares of kugel, a frosted shortbread, a few pieces of melon, and log 380 calories, I'm in the right ball park.) At someone's house, it's trickier, but there's still a little common sense. Egg salad and potato salad probably have more mayo than you'd put in if you were making it. Fried food is going to be higher in calories than roasted or steamed.

End of the day, you do your best and when the chag is over, you do better.

Hatzlacha!