Day 6

So that one week off really took me out of the habit of posting my updates at the end of the day.  Got to start doing that again, so I don't have to get up quite so early.  Got to head out to run shortly so just a quick update again.

I decided to take yesterday off from exercise.  I'd twisted my knee a bit on Wednesday and wanted to give it a full day off to let it rest.  It had already mostly resolved by the end of the day on Thursday but it was still nice to take a bit of a rest.  The rest of the day went a little bit off-plan as I ended up going out to lunch with folks from work, but only after having already eaten my prepared lunch.  Ended up eating a little bit too much on the day but luckily not too terrible.

Food yesterday:  english muffin with peanut butter and milk (400 calories), PB&J (600 calories), half a small cheese pizza (700 calories), and then for dinner I cut back and made an egg and cheese sandwich (300 calories).  I did have a few little snacks with a mini-reeses and some peanut butter (100 calories).  No exercise.

Today's Results:
Daily Food Total:  2100
Exercise:  0
Points Earned:  900
Total Points Earned:  9055
Points to go:  190945

Day 6

Going out to eat with people without going off the diet.  Not difficult necessarily but not exactly easy either.  At lunch today I went to Subway with friends, which ran the risk of eating way too much (if I got the meatball sub I'd usually get), even more so since I'd already eaten the lunch I brought with me.  Luckily, nobody thought it was weird that I just hung out.

I think the real tactic for going out is to generally know what you're ordering and trying to pick a dish with a fairly controlled amount of calories.  At most restaurants the salads are as unhealthy (or occasionally more unhealthy) than any of the other dishes on the menu, so it's not as simple as that. 

Eat what will be satisfying rather than what looks to be the "healthy" choice, just try and maintain the portion control.  At a place like Subway, go with the 6 inch rather than 12 inch.  At a Red Robin or equivalent, get a simple burger rather than crazy toppings.  At 5 guys don't get the large fries.  Looking at the nutritional information they post shows that the average meal is still going to be too big, but it'll be 1300 calories rather than 2000.

I'm sure there's other choices (don't eat the bread, ignore the fries, get the cup of soup or the side salad), but for me I think there's not much point to going out someplace if you're not really going to enjoy what you eat.

Cheerios for breakfast (300 again), Turkey sandwich for lunch (500), Salmon, noodles and green beans for dinner (900), plus about 100 calories worth of snack.

Today's Results:
Daily Food Total:  1800 calories
Exercise:  0
Points Earned:  1200
Total Points Earned:  8200
Points to go:  191800