Dating in the Diet Age

Remember when you would be excited for that date. What nice place will he take you too, where will you go, what will you say, and finally will there be chemistry? Well my last date, which btw didn't end great, was at Red Robin. Now I understand that restaurants are now starting to make us all informed eaters, but have you been reading the information in front of you? Just a simple drive up to the Burger King Drive-Through and you will notice that a harmless cheeseburger, even your way, could be an entire day's worth of calories. It is a horrible feeling to be stuck in the line looking at food that you know isn't good for you and the pressure of ordering. I even asked the person at the window what are the healthy alternatives and they looked at me like I was from a different planet. Maybe that is what being an informed eater does to you??

So there I was in Red Robin, and in front of the regular menu was the nutrition menu. I harmlessly opened it and lost my appetite. Not an appealing thing on a date. I looked at my date and saw him guzzling down a Strawberry Malt, I couldn't even look at the calories. Once he did, he suggested we take a few quick paced laps around the SuperMall. HA HA HA. Even the chicken salad was close to 900 calories. Let's just say all I had was Iced Tea.

Now I have lost close to 100 pounds, all on my own, no surgery, no Jenny Craig, nothing, just being an informed eater and walking every Sunday with my pals from Meetup. I have kept it off for over a year. But I must tell you being an informed eater does not make me a happy one. Knowing that I can eat a bag of carrots and it will be less calories and fat than a cookie is obvious, but knowing that chicken fajitas is not the best option at No Que No, does not make me a happy Weight loss Diva. There are all sorts of tricks and trades to being healthy and still enjoying your life.

Just like dating you need to know when something is right for you, when something is good just this one time and when you should just walk away unless you want a heart-attack.

Being informed and knowing what you want and planned in advance can be a good thing. In the end, just like dating we need to take things slow, don't beat ourselves up for having a bad meal or date and put faith in the next step of life.

BTW, the date didn't go bad because of the calories, apparently age can sometimes play a factor. Who KNEW? SHRUG

Go out and share, less money and calories, but a lot more fun.

Last night I met my friend Stacy for Happy Hour in downtown Seattle. We first met at the 75th Floor of the Columbia Tower for happy hour. There was promised to be some good free food, and if you like mini pork ribs, this is the place for you. I however was in the mood for cow and not pig.

For some reason I had a real craving for cheeseburger and french fries. Now I must admit, as a kid these cravings came often, now just every once in a while, but when they come, they are strong and McDonald's just wont do. My friend who is always up for meat, her words not mine, said let's go to a steak house. The financial renewest (my label for being broke and looking on the bright side) in me began to freak out, who can afford a steak house in this economy? Especially McCormick and Schmidt or Metropolitan Grill. Then she said no, we will share and it will be plenty. I forget, she is on the thrifty side of life too.....

So we went to Daily Grill in downtown Seattle. For $13.00 I had a terrific burger, salad and french fries, that even included the tip. The Daily Grill even split our food onto separate plates so it didn't even feel like sharing. I got my craving complete, my friend time in and my wallet felt secure. What a great deal.

Paying Attention

Recently I have noticed that two things are out of whack for me. My bank account and my calorie count. The looser I am with my money and spending for some reason the tighter my pants have become. Last time I checked, I wasn’t hiding money in my pockets or along my waistline.So what is happening here?A deeper review of my accounts, out of the last 246 transactions on my bank account, 101 of them were for food, most of them eating out or getting a cup of coffee or a drink somewhere. Reflecting back on these transactions I remember exactly what I told myself, “oh a few dollars here won’t matter, and the infamous, “I’ll work off the calories later.” These are all statements used to nurture myself fora hard day, a bad date, PMS or any other time I just don’t want to bother with what I am doing to myself.Two years ago I divorced my husband, reasons 1) always poor and him never contributing financially, (always in between jobs and spending money at McDonalds and the Cigar store). 2) All the extra weight we both had, he was at 400 lbs and I was at 310, I viewed it as not valuing me, or himself. Since then I have moved to Seattle, gotten anew job with a higher salary and lost close to 100 lbs. But I see that my old habits are coming back and I am getting scared.As a child I was continually called the absent minded professor. This was my mom’s hope of my continuing on to be a Psychotherapist with a little sense of humor added. I am continually asking “where are my keys?” and “What did I do with…”, but I don’t ask, where did thattwenty go or where did I get these calories from. Half of the time Idon’t even want to bother with getting a receipt, just added mess to my purse, car or wallet. But I am realizing where I don’t pay attention; I am starting to pay in other ways. As of right now, I am thinking paying attention is a lot less money and weight to my overall health.