Preparing For Dinner Out

Well, tonight is shaping up to be a special one for us: My husband has purchased two tickets to a jazz show, and we have a reservation for dinner beforehand at an outstanding, highly-recommended restaurant. I like these dinners out because I get a blessed reprieve from cooking and I can see what other chefs are up to BUT this does create some challenges for those just-started on maintenance. I have to be very, very careful what I order and what's hard for me is to exercise control and only have a salad and an entree. I love appetizers, soups and desserts -- sampling all courses. But this must be a thing of the past, at least right now. I have great difficulty stopping after one bite. I want more, more, more and knowing this, I am going to follow this plan of attack:

1. I went on-line and looked at the entire menu. I identified what I want to have, but what I need to have. In other words, there is a salad loaded with gourmet cheese and a creamy dressing; then there is a simpler salad with an herbed vinaigrette and a sprinkling of parmesean cheese. Check. For the entrees, I am not going to provide a list because they are all over the top and to die for -- but there is an Amish chicken dish with root vegetables and sweet potato puree. In the past, I shunned all chicken dishes. Not tonight. Check again.

I am not even going to ask to see the dessert menu. My husband is on board and supporting me. I have my "special" yogurt concoction planned for when we get home. No fat plain Greek yogurt this time (dense and very creamy), a few chopped pecans (higher fat but so good), raspberries, and a Ghiradelli chocolate square broken into bits. That yumminess will be waiting for me when I get home.

2. I am going to eat something low-cal but filling before I leave. My eating day today is mapped out: I had oatmeal for breakfast; an Optifast 800 shake for lunch (yes, I did decide to have a product knowing I was going out); I will have a latte around 3:00 p.m.; and at 5:00 p.m. (our dinner reservation is at 6:00 p.m.) I will have roughly 1/2 cup 1 % milk fat no salt added cottage cheese with yellow grape tomatoes and dill. (IMPT. NOTE: I had been buying no fat cottage cheese. What I just realized the other day is it is absolutely loaded with sodium. I forgot to check the label! Do this religiously!)

3. I am going walking with my husband this afternoon. Yes, it's very cold outside, no, I don't want to go. But I am setting things up that we will walk throughout the neighborhood and into the park, then wind our way to the gourmet coffee shop where I will get my latte. My "treat" for a job well done. Sorta the "carrot/stick" approach.

4. I am going to have fun! No obsessing over every bite I have. No panicking, no guilt. I've earned this. And I plan to enjoy myself. I am not going to input what I eat into MyFitnessPal -- frankly, I have no idea how to input it because chefs use so many different oils and ingredients that it's just too complicated. I've got my breakfast, lunch, and snacks inputted but the dinner entry is blank. And I'm fine with that. Tonight I celebrate!

5. Tomorrow, if I have a gain, I'll pull back. I may drop back to a 1,200 calorie/day diet for a day or two. I'm also not going to forget that a gain might very well be water weight from an inevitable higher sodium intake from my dinner out. Again, no panicking. Stay calm, cool and collected. Everything is going to be alright.

And now -- it's off for a quick trip to the department store to find a cute top to wear! Out on the town. Hooray!