Discouraged

Queenofthezoo
Queenofthezoo Posts: 69 Member
in Motivation and Support
Today, my husband wanted to eat out at the local bakery/diner. I have avoided any place that didn't have easy access to nutritional content, or healthy options. But I could tell he really wanted to go there so we went. I tried to be careful in ordering. And asked about calories, they had no idea. I had half a roast beef sandwich on whole wheat bread, with a ton of veggies and only a little Dijon mustard, and a cup of soup. They brought it to me with a heaping pile of homemade potato chips, a side serving of chocolate pudding (which I love), and a bread basket (also love) with a variety of breads and butters, oh AND a toffee cookie. My will power held, and my husband willingly enjoyed the extra sides. But I had no idea how much the Reuben soup would be in calories. Then I came home to try to log it, and according to a recipe for Reuben soup on here, I pretty much blew my calories for the day. I wonder how bad it would have been if I ate everything they served . I bought just exactly enough donuts for each kid to have one treat later and did not get one for me. And yet, I still feel like I failed. Again. Some days this is just hard. I know I am not doing the greatest job at eating well, but it is hard to find healthy options all the time. Especially when trying to not be the downer when eating out, or preparing meals that everyone else wants at home.

Replies

  • ThriftyChica12
    ThriftyChica12 Posts: 373 Member
    you did NOT fail, it's all in how u look at it. you passed up many of the tempted and unhealthy items. you suceeded!

    so, u have almost no cals left today....make a salad for dinner or some vegetable soup, or go for a walk around the block and burn 100 cals so u can make a nice dinner.

    if u are over on cals today b/c u eat dinner, no problem: do not restrict or starve to make up for the high calorie lunch. will being a couple hundreds cals over today kill u? aren't u happy u passed up the other items?
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    You didn't fail, you just learned a hard lesson. I had this happen early on at an Indian restaurant - so many calories in dishes based on spinach?!

    Now you can develop plan for going forward. Some options:

    -"cheat day" once a week, you go over your calories
    -online menus: even if they don't have the nutritional information, you can see the menu and find similar calories for similar items ahead of time, to make wiser choices
    -take your time: you will learn this lesson a few times over, but eventually you will get the feel for hidden calories in recipes and guestimating serving sizes, so that you can make good choices even without much advanced planning.
  • weezbagy
    weezbagy Posts: 40 Member
    Am dealing with this very thing, at this very moment. I decided to buy my lunch today and I went a place that serves health food. I wound up getting a brown rice bowl with tons of greens, deep fried tofu, and tahini-style dressing. Very healthy, yes, but the total for the whole meal? 747 calories. I've blasted through my calorie allowance and I haven't even had dinner yet. It's very frustrating. But I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Lesson learned. I'm still going to exercise this evening. I'm still going to have a healthy, homemade dinner. The day's not a total wash. Just keep going, lady.
  • lcyama
    lcyama Posts: 209 Member
    it happens. it's only one day. when i have a day in which i consume well over calories, i balance it out throughout the rest of the week.

    i think you did great! resisting the chocolate pudding! that would be soooo hard for me.
  • retiree2006
    retiree2006 Posts: 951 Member
    Just the fact that you are aware of the pitfalls is a victory...and sometimes you just do the best you can. So...as another mentioned, have a salad or loads of veggies the rest of the day and get on with it tomorrow.

    I'm in the reverse today. Ate good, but light, for breakfast and lunch because I know I'm eating out with friends tonight. I'll still try to stick close to my caloric goal but enjoy some special "treats".
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    That was amazing self-control you exhibited. I might have been able to resist the chips, but the bread and butter basket, chocolate pudding and toffee cookie? Put that stuff in front of me and you'd better pull your hand back fast or I might accidentally eat it, too. The high caloric content of the soup wasn't your fault, even. It's not like you knowingly chose a calorie-dense soup so I don't know how it can be a fail. It's only a failure if you knew better and did it anyway.
  • aseymour13
    aseymour13 Posts: 767 Member
    You did really well! Don't be discouraged. Some great advice above. learning how to deal and work within the confines of every day life takes discipline and some additional work. Sometimes you can also substitue items to offset some of the "extra" calories that can't be avoided. and its soooooo tough when its food you really love. I travel a lot for work and dont always get to chose the restaurants we go to -- another part of why I have 40+ to lose. Don't beat yourself up. You did great. On we go from here!!!
  • Queenofthezoo
    Queenofthezoo Posts: 69 Member
    Thanks for the encouragement ladies. I guess that was a lesson learned. I know that I will be over on calories now today. I have class tonight and don't want my stomach growling there. I already had plans for this weekend that I knew were going to be tough to keep low calorie, so I was trying to be good all week. I was under calories by 250 one day earlier this week. And I set aside time to walk/run tomorrow. Hopefully that will help. I really want to make this work, but it is hard to basically readjust everything about food, especially when it seems like so much of live involves food.

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