Eating out all weekend...it was stressful

Happy Labor Day Bleeps!

Did you labor today?  I sure as heck did. Sorry that I've been M.I.A. this weekend, but it's been a busy one.  Let me tell you about it :-)

Next weekend is my mom's birthday.  I usually go down to visit her, but I'm going to the beach instead to visit with my grandmom at my dad's place.  So I decided to take some extra time and head down to mom's this weekend. The plan was to help clean out the storage closet (we had an anti-freeze spill in there when we were looking for photos two weeks ago), get some pool time in, and study. Ha.  That was the plan anyway.

I left work at noon on Friday and got on the road. She lives just outside of D.C. so it's always a fun drive. I figured that I would get stuck in traffic and I was right.  So I had packed my lunch and ate before I got on the road.  Not falling for the fast food temptation on the ride. I packed my protein bar as a snack in case I got hungry. 

When I got down there I was asked "Do you want to come see my classroom and then we'll go out to dinner?"  Sure.  Ha.  I know better.  Two hours later (after I stapled a bunch of things and got roped into hanging some posters) I was chomping at the bit.  I was hungry!  I ate my protein bar and that soothed the savage beast a little.

We decided to go to Applebees.  And this time I was determined to stick to the 550 and under menu.  Bah!  I hate going out to eat when I'm so hungry.  Everything looks good. I flipped all over the place.  I had the calories to spare.  I COULD get something else.  I used my calories on the appetizer.  We love the spinach and artichoke dip.  I would bathe in it if you let me.  So I had to stick to the 550 menu.  I ordered the Sizzlin' Chili Lime Chicken. It comes with veggies and rice. It was very good. I still left wanting a cheeseburger, but I was happy with my meal.

Saturday morning I had my cheerios and then headed over to the fitness center.  My time was short because I needed to be somewhere soon.  But, 45 minutes was better than nothing. My plans for the morning got off pace and I actually could have stayed later, but that's okay, I had a long day ahead of me.

We had some errands to run and it was lunch time. One of my favorite places is over by two of the stores that we were going to...Red, Hot, and Blues. If you are in the D.C. area and like your BBQ then this is a place to go. I love love LOVE their pulled pork sandwich.  And the potato salad is to die for.  The portion is small, but sooo good. My big splurge for the day was my sweet tea.  But, it was my cheat day. And I would do it again...oh I heart this food!

We ran our errands.  We went to Target, the used book store, Barnes and Noble (because the used book store did not have a specific book I was looking for), Office Depot (where I saw Tony Stewart...well a likeness anyway. Tony Stewart CALL ME), and then Michael's Craft store. We were sitting in the car trying to figure out where to go for dinner and it was painful.  Once again we were hungry and that makes it hard to make a healthy choice.   We chose Tropical Smoothie for some Thai wraps.  It's a light meal and it's good. AND you can have a banana for a side instead of french fries.  I totally did not trust myself for this meal.

When we got home we got down to work. In four hours we pulled everything out of the storage closet and had a pile of trash to fill two cars outside of the door.  We organized. We cleaned. We kicked butt. Now give me an aleve because I am tired.

Sunday after church we asked Mom-Mom if she wanted to go out to dinner. Her favorite is Panera. So of course we went.  Now the wild card for the day is that we were going to go out for dinner to celebrate mom's birthday.  But, we still had not decided where to go. So I had to be good.  I got the pick two and had the Mediterranean sandwich and the tomato soup...yum.  Mom-mom really wanted to go to Sweetwater for dinner (steak and seafood). Okay, it's done.

We cleaned and organized some more before we went to dinner and I was starving by the time we got there. Bah. This is a nice restaurant.  They do not have a "light" menu.  This would be on me to get it right. I'm allergic to seafood so that knocks out half of the menu.  Some of the chickens I saw were cooked in a butter sauce.  Next. I opted for the chicken fajitas. They are south beach friendly and I have control over what I put in it as I build. I didn't put in all of the rice and sour cream.  I kept it to chicken, salsa, onions, and a little guacamole. YUM.  Now in full disclosure, I caved and had a frozen prickly pear margarita...but, OH it was good and I worked my butt off all weekend.

So this morning we were supposed to meet a friend for breakfast and it turned into lunch instead.  But, we kept the original destination: IHOP (International House of Pancakes). First thought: Yippy!  Second thought: Crap.

I was hungry when we got our menus and my eyes were all over the place. Oh an omlet sounds good. Red Velvet pancakes?  You had me at Red. No, I saw the Simple & Fit Whole Wheat French toast combo.  It comes with egg substitute and turkey bacon. So I put my finger on it and stopped looking.  I was happy to find this, but for the owners of IHOP might I suggest having a Simple & Fit section in the menu, not having the items mixed in with everything else?

It was a busy weekend.  I haven't eaten out this much in ages.  But, we were busy and we had plans.  It happens.  You can't always control it.  And you know how much I plan ahead.  Heck, it wasn't too long ago that I was eating every meal out on weekends.  And they were NOT healthy choices back then.

I indulged a little, but I also was able to make some pretty good choices.  Everything was delicious and the only time I felt sick was right after the Chicken Fajitas...but that was nothing a little tums couldn't help.

I'm proud of myself all things considered. And now it's time to get back on schedule.  I had my kashi dinner and my lunch is packed for tomorrow. Go me! 

Sadly, the sun only came out after I waited and waited and waited and finally went out for the errands.  And I did not get to study...so this is my time to sign off and get studying.

Have a Blessed Night.

*************************************************************************
Check out my Facebook Page for Confessions (there are before and work-in-progress pictures):

http://www.facebook.com/ConfessionsOfAFormerFatGir

yeah, sorry, I messed up and the "l" is missing....I need an assistant :-)

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter: @hugsnsmile