Days 4..5..& oh oh

The Hawaiian word to describe delicious food or that craving for delicious food is Ono - pronounced OH NO... its no wonder! Ok so here's the deal, eating out all the time is NOT as easy as I thought I could make it! Not only do I have so little control as to what goes into my meals in terms of salt and stuff, but I also seem to be lacking the self control the past few days. Sticking to this challenge has been HARD. When everyone around me is snacking on food, i feel like I need to snack too and one of the worst side effects of not eating the food I'm use to is that those processed carbs and very little veggies don't keep you full for long. The past few days I've been tired, sluggish, cranky, puffy ( from all the salt) and HUNGRY... not a great way to spend time with family and friends. The only good part about this all is that every meal, I have been giving away the extra food to someone who needs one. I could have easily not said anything on my blog about this, knowing full well that people are reading this but then that wouldn't be being honest with myself. Here's the deal people, First, old habits die hard. It didn't take much for me to go from flax seed and tofu to greasy salty frosted CRAP. The food has made me physically ill and yet I continued to eat it anyway. That is a HUGE wake up call for me. It is so easy to slip back into those old patterns. I spent 23 years of living my life that way and have only had 9 months to practice the new ones. The difference between then and now is that now, i know i have to regain control and I know I have the strength and skills to do it. Tomorrow is a new day for me, one that could be filled with wise choices or poor choices but ultimately they are my choice. Tomorrow I am choosing to make wise choices and learn from my mistakes of the past few days. Second - What an eye opener to how food effects my body. I went from eating whatever whenever to being on a strict calorie counting eating plan and have only strayed a handful of times ( and only in the past few weeks). It wasn't until eating virtually every dinner out that I was conscious of feeling things like how quickly processed carbs make you feel hungry, what a sugar crash feels like, how fat and meat products can make you feel sluggish, and how the salt in your food leaves you thirsty and craving more salty foods. Lastly, sleep has been a huge issue.. i'm not getting enough of it which is why i am behind on emails, voicemails and blog posts... and it is also why I'm falling asleep at my computer. Its time for sleep so I can start off the day with a clean slate! NITE!!!

Day three

Ok so on day three, I ate out two meals. The first meal was a veggie burger and water, I ate the entire thing so there was no left overs but I forgot the camera in the car so there was no picture either. For dinner that night, we ate at a place that it would be unacceptable to whip out a camera and take a picture of my plate so I'll tell you what I had. I was served 8oz of farikaki ( sesame and seaweed) Mahi Mahi , a cup of baby bok choy and a cup of rice and a side salad. I ate 4oz of MahiMahi, all the bok choy and half the rice and all of the salad ( NO DRESSING).

Dinner two!

So tonight I ate dinner out and I had grilled tuna with fresh garlic ( prepared with no salt or oil on my request), brown rice and a side salad. The meal came with two cups of rice and 8oz of tuna so when I portioned it, I packed away a cup of rice and 4oz of tuna which was given to a very grateful woman and I was left with a healthy dinner!

day one meal one!

So tonight was the first meal out and I had sushi. The nice thing about sushi is that most places let you order specific pieces which is ideal for portion control. I ordered only what i knew i should eat and so there was no leftovers. Now tomorrow I will be making my own breakfast and lunch but will be eating dinner out and will have the opportunity to start the project. On a side note, it was amazing seeing my mom today. What a reminder of just how far I have come!!!

Half My Plate - a project of control and compassion

My mom is coming to visit me in Hawaii on Tuesday for two whole weeks and I couldn't be more excited. We will be doing a lot of traveling while she's here so that means a lot of eating out. That could mean bad news for someone who counts her calories like its a religion. We all have gone out to eat before and so you know that most of the portions we are served are 2-3 times larger than what we should be eating. As a strategy to keep my portions under control, before a single piece of food touches my fork, I portion out my food and whatever is left over, i don't touch. That is a lot of waisted food, food that could be feeding someone who needs a meal. Hawaii is a beautiful place but beyond the white sandy beaches are a large population of homeless people who probably couldn't remember the last time they ate a meal. When I started thinking about my mom's visit, I started thinking about all the food that I would be waisting when it could go to good use. It has inspired me to start a project. Starting Tuesday, for every meal I eat out, I will portion my plate and put the extras in a to go box before I ever take a bite, and then give my extra portions to the first person in need of a meal I see when I leave and I'm going to document it all with pictures and video and post it on my blog. Not only do I hope it will inspire others to help feed those who are hungry but I also hope that it will encourage you to take a look at your portions next time you eat out. I hope you follow me on my two week journey of sharing half my plate!!