Disaster Averted!

Today, because I was on the road, I knew I would be eating out twice. And I knew I would have a taco salad for lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant, so I was able to plan ahead.

What I didn't know was what supper would be. My spouse and kid voted for a local barbecue place, and I thought that would be okay -- I can order 1/4 barbecue chicken there with one side, and come in at about 550 calories. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.

For one thing, the rest of my party decided to order barbecue nachos for an appetizer. I love barbecue nachos So I watched my portions, figuring I'd eat about 250 calories' worth, and skip my potato salad side.

THEN, when I ordered my meal, the server insisted that I got two sides instead of one. I said I'd take a salad, because we didn't seem to be understanding each other, and it seemed like the easiest solution. Unfortunately, when the salad came it was covered with shredded cheese. Then, when I got my meal, I realized that the server had put in my order as 1/2 barbecue chicken, a much larger meal that does come with two sides.

So now instead of 1/4 barbecue chicken and a small side of potato salad for 550 calories, I have 250 calories worth of nachos that I have already eaten, a salad with what looked like an extra 150 calories of cheese on top, HALF A CHICKEN!!!! (half a chicken? At my heaviest I couldn't eat half a chicken by myself!), and potato salad.

I decided the solution was... not to eat all that stuff. Which may sound like, well, DUH, but a month ago, before I joined MFP, I would likely have thrown my hands in the air and just eaten it.

What I did tonight was say: Okay, originally I would have had a chicken thigh and leg, about 300 calories. What if I only eat half of that, for about 150 calories? I would have eaten the whole side of potato salad, but I'll only have a few bites, and I'll brush the cheese to the side of the salad and try to eat around it. Which, frankly, prevented me eating much of the salad at all. I figure in the end I had about 250 calories of nachos, 150 calories of chicken, about 100 calories' worth of potato salad and maybe 40 calories worth of lettuce with Italian dressing. 550 calories, where I originally meant to be, because I have spent the last month learning calorie counts for the foods I eat most often.

A month ago I would have felt bad about throwing out most of a salad, most of a bowl of potato salad and a LOT of chicken (actually, I boxed up the rest of the chicken and brought it home). Tonight, I feel good that I knew enough to avert disaster and stay on track. Happy dance! :bigsmile: