Eating at an italian

Queen_M

Saturday marks 1 week of success on mfp and will be the first time I'm eating out since starting. We're going to an Italian place that I absolutely adore, but I usually just eat whatever I want and that's that. The website just so happens to be under construction this week, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to check the menu out before we go, but what kind of things should be okay to eat? Or should I just eat light that day and have a bit of a cheat? I know that if I get a starter I'll be having a caprese salad, but I'm not quite sure if I'll have a starter or not.
We're going to a friend's 21st afterwards so I'll be having a few drinks too, so I don't want to go crazy because I have another 3 birthdays to attend within 10 days of that one. Ugh. This is when I always fail. Something like this crops up, I cheat and then think I've failed and then back to normal. I'm determined to get past that this time!

michael300891

Eat light that day, cheat for your meal, continue properly rest of week, wont make a major difference

EDIT - Didnt realise you said you had 3 more birthdays, yeh I have this problem quite a lot to. Wouldnt let it ruin your nights tho, just do the best you can when your not out then after the 3 birthdays are over get back on track. Just dont make the mistake of thinking "Ill have a week off" and binging - thats what I used to do in this situation and it never ends well lol.

SquishyVicki

Italian isn't too bad if you watch your portion sizes and avoid cream based sauces. When we eat out for Italian I usually go for something like a starter portion of pasta arrabiata (or some other tomato based sauce meal) served as a main with a big side salad to go with it (no or low fat dressing).

Good luck!! Vx

AEB_WV

Hopefully the website will be back up before you go so you can plan better. Italian is difficult w/ all the pasta and usually very large portions + yummy bread. You could always get what you like in the way of an entree and box 1/2 of it up for later. Meatless or seafood are usually better choices than not but watch out for cheese and creamy sauces. Marinara is always better than alfredo. Vinagrette instead of creamy dressing. Concentrate on 'better' choices knowing that you'll likely go over. Think about what you are or aren't going to eat in advance and try to stick to it - 'I will only eat one piece of bread'. Excercise in advance : )
If you feel like you didn't do a good job at the end of the day, don't beat yourself up. Just keep on doing a better job of making good choices and changing unhealthy habits! Good luck!

Queen_M

Thanks everyone . I'll set myself a realistic limit on what to eat and just jump back in the next day. I don't want to drink too much anyway because I'm working at 10am the following morning and hangover work isn't fun! I'll plan my food for the following day too so that I know what I'm going back to.

htmlgirl

I agree. As long as you don't do this regularly it's not a big deal. Also you should do that thing where you ask for a take home box and put half of your meal in there so you don't overeat.

kelley663

Take home box is a GREAT idea !!! I'm going to remember that one !!!

Queen_M

I agree. As long as you don't do this regularly it's not a big deal. Also you should do that thing where you ask for a take home box and put half of your meal in there so you don't overeat.

I can't do that, I'm going straight from the restaurant to the venue and I don't really fancy carrying around half a box of pasta all night, hahaha. I'm hoping they'll do smaller portions though

xxx_Pink_Princess_xxx

An idea for the drinks would be to have one then have a pint of water then another drink and alternate it xxxx

hmrtym

You can always ask for a 1/2 portion. Even if you still pay the full price it is worth it to not over eat (to me)! Good luck, italian is my downfall!