Holiday Eating: It's About Portions

Easter is tomorrow, which means my family with gather for our Easter dinner. I am doing the lion's share of the cooking -- which I do with pleasure -- and there is nothing even remotely dietetic on the menu (with the exception of a fruit salad). Out of respect for the full fasters, I am not going into detail, but suffice to say it is a four course meal. Salt, butter, sugar, it is all in there. I am not going to put a low-calorie, low-fat meal in front of my family at the dinner table. They don't want it, and honestly, I don't want it either. So here's the upshot for me: I need to exercise portion control.

Portion control is a huge problem for me when I am dining out. Portion control is not something I have ever been comfortable with. Portion control means "putting the breaks on" and I'm like a racehorse chomping at the bit. Hard. Now, I learned from my little visit to the Italian restaurant recently that if I don't watch how much I cram into my stomach, I get very, very sick. My tummy aches and I feel rotten. I swear it is smaller now, and I just cannot handle rich food. I have to take Tums and eat Fiber one cereal. It's horrible. So I know what I need to do.

1. Eat something, before I drive to my sister's house with all the food, to keep me in check. We are eating at 1:30 p.m. and I plan on having my oatmeal around 10:30 a.m. In the past, before Optifast, I would eat nothing and go to the dinner ravenous, so I could stuff my face with all the food. Not anymore.

2. Bring a smaller plate with me. I inherited my mother's china from the 1960s, and I am bringing a plate with me. If you compare one of the plates to the plates they sell now, the size difference is glaringly apparent. Smaller plate, less room for the food. Millie, our nutritionist, taught us this trick. Into action I go.

3. I am bringing sparkling mineral water, lemons, and a special wine glass. I touch alcohol and my ability to exercise control and resist overeating is out the window. But that does not mean I can't hoist my own special drink/glass when we do our toast. I love Pellegrino now, and I actually bought two big bottles at the grocery store yesterday. I don't know how long we will be together, and I want to make sure I have enough. Mark another thing off my list.

4. Eat the fruit for dessert. I'll admit it, the fruit salad is for me. I will make a big one just in case someone wants some, but it is highly unlikely they will (given the dessert I am making). I have to have this or else I will start in on the dessert and not stop. This is my fallback.

So this is how my plan is taking shape. Fingers crossed that I follow it. I have not faced a holiday while in maintenance, so this is a first. I am remembering the Little Engine That Could: "I think I can" became "I know I can." So here I go.