What I Learned from #BlogHer09

Installment #3

My Attitude about Food

Ah, food. Isn’t that one of the best parts of vacation?

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a Weight Watchers meeting. We were talking about vacations. About how hard it can be to get your groove back after vacation. About how important it is to stay aware of food intake and stick with routine as much as possible while on vacation.

I really didn’t know what to expect from BlogHer, foodwise. I haven’t traveled at all since I’ve been on. I didn’t know how to keep myself under control. I knew I’d have so many options – many of which wouldn’t be ideal. I racked my brain and didn’t know how I’d prepare myself.

And then, when FB and I were out for our first Chicago dinner, it hit me. Make a decent choice and eat half of it. And that’s what I did for 90% of the trip.

This is the inspiration meal. Some sort of pizza pocket kinda thing with all kinds of veggies and cheese. I ate half of it and I was satisfied. And for the next several days, I ate half. And I was satisfied.

I did make a few variations.

This was the meal from Ragu on Friday. I ate all of the salad. I ate a bite of the chicken and decided I didn’t like it. I wasn’t a fan of the breadstick either. So I ate the whole cannoli. And I think it was okay. I mean, how often do I indulge? (Ignore my drink from the previous night, please.) And it was SO GOOD. I wasn’t wasting calories on a medicore dessert. Yumm. Lunch = a salad with tomatoes and mozzarella and a cannoli. I think that’s okay.

And then there was the last supper…

Black bean cakes with an awesome red pepper sauce. Slaw. Mac and cheese. Roasted corn. Yeah. I had 1 1/2 of the black bean cakes, all of the corn, and most of the mac and cheese. And about half of a piece of pie. And I paid for it later. Digestive system? Yeah, not my friend.

I didn’t always make the best choices. I did have several bags of Cheez-Its. But I kept pretty fast to my half rule: half of an omelette, half of a sandwich, half of a piece of banana nut bread, half of a turkey burger, half, half. (To see Chicago eats, click here here here and here.) And I’ve done a pretty good job of that since I got home too.

Moderation. I never felt deprived. I never felt angry that I was choosing not to have more. I ate out. I ate at parties. I had a drink. And I was happy. And satisfied.

It would have been nice to have had a scale though. You know, just for a gauge.

But that might have been a little obsessive, eh?