[Irving]

Originally Posted by PassTheBypass

1. A Cub scout campout, where the dads all got together to drink beer and chat once the kids were down. Have a beer, then two, then three. The food brought is doughnuts, fixings for smores, spaghetti with sausage, and cuban sandwiches. Not a good boy weekend. And it was the second weekend of the not-a-diet, so my 10 pounds lost jumped up by five. It took me days to get back to pre-campout.

2. Friday lunch with friends. They are supportive (one is on Atkins, so they understand), but finding a restaurant with five items while not a buffet is impossible. So, Wendy's, with the cheese on the side, one Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger gave me beef, cheese, bread, and lettuce, and I had raisins along for help. Lots of water, and I was able to pull it off, and had more time to actually talk to friends instead of chewing.

3. Father's day. Traditional Barbeque, both grandfathers to the kids there. Sweet potato, beef, fruit salad, cuban bread, and a glass of milk. Did it slowly, but not at the five minute level. Then rice, and later ice cream jumped on the plate. I fought them like crazy, but they snuck past my teeth. over 2100 calories, worst day since I started. Today, the scale says I lost a pound. Must have been in my sleep.

4. Late nights with the family. I try to prepare the breakfast and have the 1/2 hour + time to eat it, and the lunch to bring to work, but some mornings, it is impossible to wake up after having been up late the night before. So, I end up with a protein bar eaten slowly in the car, and another one for lunch. Not as fulfilling, and it only has one taste. Makes the temptation to binge at dinner a larger obstacle. Tonight for example, I have to go straight to kid's baseball, so dinner won't be till past 8:30. The first five bites will be peaceful, (patterns help), but the stopping point will be tougher to reach without feeling deprived.

So, the plans for my food get impacted by the freaking real world. Any suggestions?

i think most of your problems can be solved by better preparation

1. could you have brought your own food or at least drank a light beer or two? if you have done this type of thing before i am sure you knew this was coming. next time bring your own food and light beer.

2. i am confused about this 5 items thing? is it a diet you are on? is it one of each food group? why bother with the iceburg lettuce as a veggie which has no nutritional value whatsoever?

don't know if you are a chicken fan or not but the only meat i eat at a fast food place is a chicken breast sandwich which would have been a lot healthier. they also have salads do they not? also if you know you have to eat somewhere that is not very healthy could you have a healthy snack right before you go so you aren't as hungry when you get there and therefore won't eat as much of the bad stuff? also look at a nutritional menu for whereever you are going and see what is and what isn't healthy. i think you can find nutritional values on every fast food website

3. that's a tough one. i have gone so far that i brought my own meat to grill at others parties knowing they are cooking fatty things. yes it's a pain but how much do you want to lose this weight? i will eat 2 chicken breast sandwiches or super lean ground beef burgers on whole wheat buns with only healthy toppings and by filling up on that and a lot of water i am less tempted to eat the other garbage because i am too full.

4. can you make food the night before since mornings are so hard? maybe even prepare 2 nights before the really hard nights? if you know it's going to be a late night do it the day before? try to get more portable healthy foods. i use protein bars too, but also try taking single serving packets of protein powder with me to mix with water or milk, have an apple handy, a mozzerella string cheese, some beef jerky, meal replacement shakes etc

jerky, meal replacement shakes, packets of protein powder are easy to store at work because no refridgeration is needed. you don't need to refridgerate fruit either.