Phew. Today is done. It was a great day -- had some fun with coworkers, and spent some wonderful time with friends I don't get to see NEARLY enough, but MAN. I went into both events poised and ready; having reviewed menus and chosen my meal before I even left the house.
One thing I wasn't prepared for, though...
Bad food smells. So. Good.
I had forgotten what the smell of fresh french fries and/or barbecue sauce do to me. My resolve really, really was tested today.
We went to lunch and I had set my mind to the Cobb salad, minus the bleu cheese and bacon. So -- a bowl of iceberg lettuce with tomato, avocado, egg, and chicken. And dressing I brought from home.
It was lackluster at best.
But... it would've been much easier to get through it if I hadn't been surrounded by a table full of people eating fish & chips. (It was the daily special at the restaurant we went to and literally half our group got it). It actually really felt like I was depriving myself. It kind of sucked. And Whole30 puts so much emphasis on how this isn't about deprivation, this is about stuffing your face full of AWESOME fresh yummy food, but... my salad was not that. But, I chugged through it and ate it all and didn't complain. Much. After we ate I learned how to play shuffleboard, and after I gave up on that (I'm REALLY bad at it), I played ping pong. I'm not too shabby at ping pong. Yay. It was a good time!
After work, Derek and I headed to Reston Town Center to meet up with friends. Traffic ended up being really swift for us but not so much for our friends, so we were sitting at a table in the restaurant with just our sad glasses of water for about an hour before they arrived. Honestly, it was worth it to see them and I wouldn't give it a second thought except for that we were flanked by people eating racks of ribs (naturally, the daily special at THIS restaurant). Even though I'm not really a big fan of ribs, the smell of the barbecue sauce was intoxicating. On top of that, when we sat down our poor server asked us if we'd like to start with an appetizer while we waited for our friends and it was hard as hell to turn it down. That stack of onion rings had my name on it, I swear.
Finally, everyone arrived and we ordered our food; Derek opted for a peppercorn crusted filet served on a bed of spinach and subbed out sauteed green beans for the baked potato. He said it was good but while we thought forward enough to make sure the green beans were not sauteed in butter, we didn't think about the spinach, so he didn't eat that, to be on the safe side. He said the steak and green beans were okay but he was a little hungry still.
I had a burger wrapped in lettuce, and subbed the french fries for a house salad. The burger only came with lettuce and tomato, which was great. I did make the mistake of forgetting to ask for my salad without dressing, which is weird because usually I at least ask for it on the side, even pre-Whole30, but it was balsamic vinaigrette, and the server double checked for me that there was no sugar in it. Just balsamic vinegar, oil, and spices. It was overdressed, which kinda sucked, but I feel like I did the best I could with the options that were presented to me. In the end, the only thing that mattered was that I was with dear friends. The rest was just background.
My experience today taught me a couple things: 1) When put between a rock and a hard place, I can find a solution that works. It may not be what I really want, it may not be easy, but I can do it; and 2) I think it'd be best if we avoid eating out until our Whole30 is complete. This is tough work!
And on that note, it's super late and I want to SLEEP, so let's wrap this up!
What I Ate:
Breakfast: Two hard-boiled eggs, an orange, some carrots, and some nuts (cashews and pecans)
Lunch: Cobb salad minus the nasty stuff with dressing from home
Dinner: Burger sans good stuff, served between two pieces of iceberg lettuce (I had mustard! WOO CONDIMENTS!) and a house salad with balsamic vinaigrette.
How I Feel:
I don't know if I would say that I'm more awake, or more energetic, but I was in a good mood today. Maybe because I had something to look forward to. My eyes still feel droopy all day and I had some joint pain issues as we were walking from our car to and from the restaurant this evening, but otherwise I feel good.
On to the next one! Never thought I'd be so glad to eat a home-cooked meal! ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment