Into the Belly of the Beast...and Lived to Tell the Tale

Tonight, I stared straight into the face of some of my worst cravings...and laughed.

Ha, ha, ha, cravings, I said. You won't get the best of me!

I must say, I am quite proud of myself. And in a way I know this post will seem kind of like bragging -- and I admit that well, it sort of is -- but I want it also to serve as a lesson for everyone that if you put your mind so something, and if you are really, really committed to it, then you CAN do it. I have been among the worst of sinners, and I have been saved. And so can you.

Tonight, I went for a much-needed "moms' night out" with some women in my Hip Mamas Meetup Group -- to Bacari Grill, an Italian bistro. (Excuse me, waiter... there are carbs all over my menu!) I don't think there could have been a worse place for me under my current eating plan, unless I had gone straight to Cold Stone Creamery for a Love It sized Chocolate Caramel Heaven in a waffle cone dish. Dipped in chocolate.

Despite the fact that there was more bread on the table than four of us could possibly eat even if we were carb-loading for a marathon, I did not partake. Instead, I helped myself to some grilled vegetables, hummus and olives from the antipasto plate -- which were delicious, and very satisfying. I ordered the peppercorn crusted tuna on soba noodles, and while I ate the entire piece of fish (again, delish!) I took only a portion of the soba more fitting of a serving size. Although the woman next to me had the chocolate lava cake for dessert, I ordered a lovely, hot cup of coffee and was very happy with that. In fact, the decadent desserts actually looked a little overwhelming to me (I think that having gone without sweets for even just three weeks, these kinds of things may actually be too sweet for me). I even had a glass of wine, between sips of which I drank water.

The best thing is, I didn't feel deprived at all. The biggest challenge was finding and making the right choices, and at the same time choosing my battles and accepting what compromises had to be made. Alas, they did not have skim milk and I can NOT drink my coffee black, so I decided that it was not a big deal. I used the full fat milk. (See, I'm not a complete angel!)

And as I have pointed out in previous entries, I don't have that heavy, gurgling, sluggish, stomach-achy feeling that I might have had I gone all out on this meal. I know that I probably could have even had a forkful of one of those decadent desserts and that would have been just fine. But I certainly didn't need to go hog-wild in order to feel happy and satiated, that is for sure.

Ha-ha, Temptation -- take THAT!