I have a love hate relationship with weekends. While I love having time off from work to spend with my hubby I dread some of the issues that I face having all of this free time. I’m referring to food choices.

During the week it’s pretty easy for me to keep on goal. I pack my own lunch, control the portion size,  and enter my points into my tracker. I add or delete points as necessary. Dinner is pretty easy because, again, I’m controlling what I eat and how much. But come weekend, it becomes a little more difficult. Saturday and Sunday are the days hubby and I go out to lunch and dinner. Restaurant ingredients along with portion sizes becomes a bit of a challenge. When eating out I try playing it safe by ordering the same items I’ve had in the past that have already been points calculated. By choosing these items I stay well within my points target.  But I soon get bored with these food choices and end up ordering a dish that is well over my allotted points.  I don’t like to waste food and was always told growing up to clean my late. If I eat at a restaurant I often feel obligated to eat as much as possible so little goes to waste. For the most part I can calculate what’s on my plate. But there are times when I become so afraid of what the point value is on my plate that I don’t track that meal. That leads to not tracking the rest of the day which often leads to forgoing the rest of the weekend. This is dangerous behavior!

 I know I’m not alone in this and I have to work through this mind-set. I do not want to fear food, but I don’t want to turn a blind eye to my food choices either. Part of working through this fear is owning up to it and look for that happy medium. I know I will find it. So, one way I can change this behavior is to order from the ‘sides” or “appetizer” menu. That way I have a small amount of food and control what goes onto my plate. How about a side salad and a baked potato? Or hummus with all veggies instead of the bread? Sounds yummy!

My major goal at the moment is to take back my weekends and focus on spending time with hubby, instead of worrying about food.

Liz