I think it's very hard to not see eating out as something "special." If you are someone who eats out at almost every meal, that's different. But for many, going out to dinner at a restaurant is a treat, and when we are in that "treat" mode in our brain, it's easy to want to partake of the bread and butter, the pasta, the enchiladas in cheese and tomatillo sauce, the dessert. It's like, if I wanted a chicken breast without the skin and steamed vegetables, I could eat at home!!
I personally am working to lose weight right now and am using the Weight Watchers plan. One of the things I like about it is that during the course of the week, there is enough latitude to fit just about anything into my eating without going off track. There is a daily allowance for "points" eaten, which for most people totals between 18-25 points. But over and beyond that, there are 35 extra weekly points that can go anywhere -- 5 extra per day, or all 35 on Saturday night, if that's what you want. The result? You learn a way of eating that says "usually, I eat this way, but when I want to splurge, I do it in moderation." So you can have the bread, but you stop at one piece. You can have the pasta, but you have half of it boxed up ahead of time to take home for another meal. You can fit in the glass of wine or the piece of chocolate without then feeling that you are "bad."
Restaurants don't help by serving us mammoth portions. Somewhere along the way we got the idea that "supersized" means "value," and we lost our perspective!!
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I think it's very hard to not see eating out as something "special." If you are someone who eats out at almost every meal, that's different. But for many, going out to dinner at a restaurant is a treat, and when we are in that "treat" mode in our brain, it's easy to want to partake of the bread and butter, the pasta, the enchiladas in cheese and tomatillo sauce, the dessert. It's like, if I wanted a chicken breast without the skin and steamed vegetables, I could eat at home!!
I personally am working to lose weight right now and am using the Weight Watchers plan. One of the things I like about it is that during the course of the week, there is enough latitude to fit just about anything into my eating without going off track. There is a daily allowance for "points" eaten, which for most people totals between 18-25 points. But over and beyond that, there are 35 extra weekly points that can go anywhere -- 5 extra per day, or all 35 on Saturday night, if that's what you want. The result? You learn a way of eating that says "usually, I eat this way, but when I want to splurge, I do it in moderation." So you can have the bread, but you stop at one piece. You can have the pasta, but you have half of it boxed up ahead of time to take home for another meal. You can fit in the glass of wine or the piece of chocolate without then feeling that you are "bad."
Restaurants don't help by serving us mammoth portions. Somewhere along the way we got the idea that "supersized" means "value," and we lost our perspective!!
October 5, 2009 - 8:10amThis Comment
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