The day started by walking a half mile to meet up with Momsy at Frick Park and from there we took off running...literally! Threeish miles later, we were covered in sweat (luckily it hadn't topped 100 degrees yet for the day), and we parted ways. I ran the last half mile home, had a good stretch (so important!) and hosed off to get all perty.
Why was I getting all perty? To go out to eat with my dad and brother. Most people would think, hoooray! Yummy food! Me? I think, oh great, what am I going to 'want' to eat versus what 'should' I eat. Anxiety starts to build, I don't want to make bad choices, but sometimes that wonderful, colorful, practically scratch and sniff picture on the menu, calls your name. Do you hear it? "Malllorrrryyyy, eaaattt mmeee!!! I'm sooo juiiiccyyy and deliciouuussss..." But in the end, I made the good choice and got "The Lean Machine". They really need to do something about the turkey patty though, it needs a garnish or something...doesn't exactly look appealing does it? It was pretty rubbery actually. Look at that fruit cup though! It even had kiwi! Yum.
Part of the menu picture's thousand words should also include "I'm sooo greasssyyy and full of cheemmiicalls and extremeeellllyy hyperpalatablleeee!" Hyperpalatable? What's that you ask? I know I make up a lot of words, but that one is a real word. I promise!
Let me break it down:
Our bodies crave sugar, fats, and salt. Think of all of your favorite foods...what are they reallllly made of? High in sugar? Yes. High in fats? Most likely. Laden in salt? Probs. The majority of the time, your favorite food is actually sugars, on top of fats, on top of salts, on top of more sugars, on top of more fats. Get the drift? So, this hyperpalatable food...what is it? Former FDA Commissionar David Kesslar, who wrote the book The End of Overeating, describes it: "hyperpalatable" foods -- those loaded with fat, sugar, and salt -- stimulate the senses and provide a reward that leads many people to eat more to repeat the experience. Aka, we overeat. A great personal example would be from the movies the other day. I was completely ok with not getting any snacks; I could just say no. But when Keefer wanted some during Harry Potter, I thought I could just eat a little bit. Before I knew it, I was double fisting and shoveling it into my mouth faster than I could chew it. Guess what that popcorn is extremely high in? Fats and salts. Imagine that, I was overeating. If you're interested in knowing some more, I'll probably do another post on it again soon so check back! Or send me an email, leave a comment, or check out the book. Library = freeeeeeeee!
Seeing as though I'm basically never home, I left brunch and some shopping with dad and Brudder to head back into the city to check out the new Target with mom. It's huuuuuge. Best part? They have a cart escalator. You push your cart through a door, it catches on a track and rides up next you! So cool. Why is there an escalator? It is two floors! I'm a dork and get way too excited about it. I know. Deal with it. Moving on.
By this time, it wasn't worth going home for an hour or so before church, so guess what we did? Eat! I felt really good about my choices at breakfast so a good choice for dinner was my game plan. We headed to one of our favorite little cafes called Eat Unique. They have a very vegetable based menu of sandwiches, soups, and salads and live up to their name with unique offerings. Today's choice was the summer sandwich.
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| Fresh mozzarella, tomato, spinach, and onions with a pesto spread on focaccia. |
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| Mmmmmmm |
So I felt great making another good choice. Yeah, the bread is decently high in calories, but the rest of the sandwich is very low, so it balances out a little. Hindsight 20/20, however, I should have just ordered a half. Especially knowing that the bread was decently caloric. Or, as another option, eat it open faced which takes away half of the bread with all of the cheesy, vegetably goodness. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach. Lesson learned for next time, right? Also, with Razzy Fresh across the street, I'm pretty sure I should have known to save some room.
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| Cake batter and triple chocolate with more fruit than yogurt (plus my usual 2 tiny pieces of cookie dough!) |
It was a nice day with some great people. Maybe I should have taken pictures of actual people instead of food? Ha!
Today's lesson learned: Your eyes are ALWAYS bigger than your stomach. Not sometimes, not occasionally ALWAYS. And FOREVER times a MILLION. Order less, you'll be happy you did. Not to mention, now you can walk around sounding all smart because you can use hyperpalatable in a sentence. You're welcome.
Okay, lets try this post again (now that its a week later than i tried)
ReplyDeleteYour sandwich from dinner looks AMAZING!! It makes my mouth water just looking at the picture. I may have to take a trip to Pittsburgh and find this place to try that sandwich.
I've been on several kicks throughout the past couple years trying to lose weight and eat healthier, and I always seem to fall off the bandwagon. It's been a bit tougher since Bill passed away in February, as we tend to go out more and more than we used to. I try to pick healthy choices from the menu, but that doesn't always work. I must say, I'm rather envious of you. I know I wasn't supportive in the beginning, but I think it's awesome what you've done.
In a way, you've kind of inspired me to try things once again. Only, I'm gonna try to stick to my guns this time. And I've told mom that we're going to eat healthier, cook more at home, and I'll even make some of the healthy meals!
When you first started, how did you manage to not fall off track? And when you crave sweets (I'm terrible when it comes to chocolate) what do you do about that, like what do you substitute with?
@Bridget Anne
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, come down...we can go together! Razzy Fresh may or may not be literally across the street :)
Thanks for the encouragement Berg, and believe me, it's not easy. I made a post one time about the anxiety I get when I go out to eat, but its what 'regular everyday people' do, so I have to adapt. Ask for half portions, kids portions, or senior portions if they have them. Also, you can ask them to package up half into a doggie bag before it even comes out of the kitchen.
I fall off the wagon, read today's post. lol
I don't deprive myself of things, its all about moderation! Keep reading the blog and I hope you can find some tips that will help you! Feel free to contact me anytime...I miss cohort!