Saturday, November 6, 2010

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant

Last night as I was getting ready to leave work, I got a text message from my husband that the power was out so he couldn't make dinner. My first thought was, "Yeah right...you just don't want to cook." ;-) So much for our healthy lean steak and roasted cauliflower.

I called the power company and apparently there was a huge blackout in our area affecting 2200 homes and businesses. It was nearly 9:00 at night and we hadn't had dinner. We decided to grab dinner at one of the only nearby places that were open, an Italian place. I ordered some sauteed lemon chicken and when they brought out my food, the following conversation took place:

Me: Good lord! How many people do they think they're feeding? That piece of chicken could serve four people, easy.
Husband: Um. A year ago you probably would have eaten all of that. Plus salad. And garlic rolls.
Me: Oh. Yeah. I think I vaguely remember that.

It's true. My perception of food and portion sizes have changed considerably. What would have been one meal before is now at least 3. I have leftover chicken, pasta, and I never even touched my soup - that will probably be lunch today. The leftover garlic rolls went right in the garbage.

Yesterday I went to this AWESOME Mexican restaurant with a couple of co-workers for lunch. I had a bowl of chicken & veggie fajita soup. It was awesome - spicy fajita chicken, squash, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and a few crushed tortilla chips on top. I kept getting asked, are you sure that's all you're having? JUST soup? Well, yeah. It was chilly out and I wanted soup. It's not like I had a cup of broth - it was full of chunky veggies and I was full from that, so why would I get anything else?

Pre-band, unless I was ill I don't think I would have ever considered a bowl of soup a proper lunch.

In other news, I hit 60 pounds down on Thursday. Today I am back up 2 pounds. I'm not freaking out - I'm positive that it's part hormonal (next week is TOM), part sodium (salty soup and chicken yesterday), and part carbs (I almost never eat real pasta anymore, but I had some last night). I managed to completely avoid Halloween candy except for one mini Reeses peanut butter cup and one single Twizzler. Not bad at all. I'm sure I'll drop back down by next week. It's just awfully nice to have finally broken this plateau and be down 4 pounds in 2 weeks, even with the small gain.

7 comments:

Sandy said...

I too am amazed at the serving sizes in restaurants. I usually bring the leftovers home for lunch the next day or my hubby enjoys the rest. Great going on the weightloss and yes it will start to move downwards again.

Kristin said...

Go you on avoiding the Halloween candy. And I completely agree - I never would have considered a bowl of soup a proper meal before. Amazing how much changes with this, isn't it?

Rachel said...

I agree with you 100%...the band really has reshaped my views of food and portion sizes...and for this I'm really truly grateful. Thanks for your sharing.

Miss Tori said...

I hear you about the portions. Sometimes I fill my plate and think, what did I just do? There's no way I can eat all that!

Good luck with the Challenge!

Meli said...

sounds fantastic steph!! you're doing great! and i totally agree with you about portion sizes. i wish they would open a place that served small portions of everything! how cool with that be? and i just love those shot glass desserts.

Meli said...

ps. i found a place by me that sells frozen yogurt just like the place you were telling me about by you! how cool is that?!

Steph said...

You are SO right. I look at the amount of foos that is served and I am almost disgusted with the fact that I used to eat all of it. Every last bit. Salad, full meal and probably have dessert when i got home. Yeah for us and knwoing that our perceptions are changing! :)