Choices

Last night my family had so many errands to do, we decided to stop at Chili's for dinner. Eating out has always been a huge blow to the size of my ass. I used it as an opportunity to eat things I either never get to make at home (seafood, which my daughter hates, not prepared in the most healthy of ways) or don't cook (fried anything, I hate the smell and mess). And since I'm paying so much for the pleasure of adding inches to my ass, I better eat all of it.

I'd already had a bit of success eating out when my boss took me to lunch at a gourmet burger place that has the best burgers I've ever eaten. I ordered it with just fresh spinach (which I think is so much better than lettuce on burgers or sandwiches) and cheese (not great, but what's a burger with no cheese? Something I don't want to eat, that's for sure.). As soon as it was set down before me, I cut it in half and pushed half the sweet potato fries to the side. I also passed on the sugary lemonade I usually suck down and stuck with water. I left there proud of myself and not feeling so stuffed. And had leftovers for the hubby. A trip to WalMart on Saturday found my daughter and I at Subway for lunch. Again, I made such good choices. I got the kid's meal which includes a mini-sub (I got turkey, 1/2 piece of cheese, spinach, tomato and thinly sliced cucumbers on whole wheat bread), apple slices and water. I almost danced out of there I was proud of myself. A little boy in the checkout like really liked the toy the meal came with, making it even better.

So, back to Chili's. Usually I get the shrimp alfredo (so freaking fattening) or the Pick 3 appetizer plate screams out to me (and the kids, that's what they got). Instead, I ordered the cedar plank talapia with rice and steamed veggies - and asked the fish be prepared with no oil and the sauce on the side. Thank God I did, because that save 250 calories and 29 GRAMS OF FAT. Holy crap. And it was so damn good. The fish was perfectly cooked, moist and good with the seasoning rub they put on. I also pushed half the rice off to the side and didn't eat it. I took one small bite of my son's chicken crispers and one small bite of the spinach & artichoke dip from my daughter. I left so proud of myself and I didn't feel sick from all the fried/greasy/heavy food.

Sheer exhaustion kept me from my nighttime walk last night, so I went to bed early and got on the treadmill this morning as planned. Normally I'd blow that off, too, for another 45 minutes of sleep.

Could I really be doing this?

I can't wait until making healthy choices at restaurants is so common to me that I don't even think about it.