Planning ahead for a big day at the Fair

It has been 9 years, since I last took a trip to the annual event in San Diego, known as the Del Mar Fair. A few years back, someone insisted on renaming it the Southern California Exposition, but most of us will not give up that old name that we associate with this great place to go in the summer.

I grew up visiting the fairgrounds in Del Mar, every June through July the 4th. I looked forward to seeing the animals and riding the rides and visiting all the colorful places on the fairgrounds as a child. I also looked forward to the vast amount of scrumptious food from corn dogs to cinnamon rolls.

As I grew older, I helped to put in gardens at the fair each year and showed roses in the rose shows. I made 3 to 4 visits per week to enter roses and see the fair. Of course, I had to enjoy not only the large exhibit halls and their incredible displays of thing that you couldn't begin to imagine...but of course, I had to stop for some fair food. A hot cinnamon roll in the morning, fried zucchini with ranch dressing...maybe one of those whole roasted turkey legs or just some good barbeque were required 'fare at the fair'. I always bought a pound of fudge that rarely made it to the car. I learned to buy an extra one for the next day.

In later years, I had a booth at the fair, where I sold miniature roses. That meant, I arrived before the fair opened and left at midnight every day of the whole 3 week event. I became friends with the many vendors....especially the food vendors. I could eat my way around the fairgrounds and never pay for anything. Everybody who sold food was my good friend. I traded mini roses for everything from funnel cakes to fudge, from pasta to potatoes, from ice cream to teriyaki chicken. I had it made in the shade.

Is it any wonder that I always gained weight, during those 3 weeks in the summer. It didn't matter that I physically worked so much of each day and only seemed to be drinking diet sodas. I ate constantly. Vendors would actually send me food. The capachino lady would send her son over to my booth with a huge, frozen chocolate concoction, topped off with whipped cream and chocolate syrup, every afternoon of the fair. She would come on last day to pick out roses as a Thank You from me.

Now...imagine this. I have been given free passes to the fair for myself and my hubbie. We are leaving Friday morning...early; and we won't be home, until late that night. We will be at the fair...ALL DAY LONG.

Some of you may say..."Make it a FREE DAY. You can always eat right the next day." Those who know better would never suggest that. You know how important it is to me 'to stay on course" to get those new knees that will come when I get to Onederland.

Don't worry friends. If there is anything that I can do, it is make a FOOD PLAN and stick to it...a food plan that stays within my calorie limit.

However, there are somethings that I really do want to eat that day...things that I love to eat but have not had since 2004, when I last worked at the fair. Are they bad choices? Not really. Will I still be able to stick to my very low calorie goals? I am pretty sure that I can. Will I eat a sweet treat? Yes. Will I go crazy and chose stuff like cinnamon rolls and fried zucchini? No.

I posted my food plan for Friday already. I will skip breakfast and have a barbecue beef sandwich and cole slaw for brunch at one of the best pit barbeques I know. I want my favorite pesto pasta and meatballs for dinner. The owner of that food truck will make sure that I have a nice dinner with some leftovers for the next day. Best of all, I even have enough calories left to visit my friends who own the Dip 'n Dots stand for an afternoon treat. They would feel hurt, if I didn't stop by to say Hi and have a small cup of their frozen ice cream beads. As for drinks, I will stick to unsweetened ice tea and lemon.

Believe it or not, this food plan even has a few calories left over...just in case my calculations are slightly off.

The great part of this plan is the fact that I will have a wonderful day with my hubbie at one of my favorite places in the whole world without worrying about, "What will I eat?" That has already been determined. Now, I can just relax and have guilt-free fun at the fair. There are no calories in visiting the garden, the rose show, the big exhibit halls, the craft buildings or the animals. Those are all great things to see...not eat.