Back From Atlanta!

Old Habits Die Hard!

Well, I made it through the trip. Yes, it was hot. Yes, I was hungry. Yes, I obsessed over what to eat.

The food obsession started at the airport before our flight left. We had a flight delay, and I immediately went into my "travel" mode... Got time at the airport? Buy magazine -- check! Buy drink -- check! (I did buy water.) Buy gum -- check! Still got time? Buy food!

There wasn't much around, and it came down to a couple of fast food joints, a salad place and an Italian place. I started out looking at the salads, but they were enormous, and sort of intimidating. So I wandered over to the Italian place. Bingo!

• Trip Tip #1: Look for protein. The Italian place had a chicken parmesan meal that included salad and a piece of breaded chicken. I got that. I used low fat dressing and started with the chicken first. Then I slowly ate the salad until I was full. The rest I gave to my husband.

Next hurdle: The actual plane ride. They gave out nuts and cookies. I ate the peanuts. I had a cup of ice water. My daughter and husband oohed and ahhed about the cookies, but I didn't mind too much.

When we got to Atlanta we were tired and hungry, of course. We stopped at McDonald's and I got a small cheeseburger and removed the top piece of bread. 

• Trip Tip #2: Eat wherever and make it work.

On to our friend's house. They had graciously offered to make us dinner, and I was a bit worried about what it was going to be... But it worked out. They made Talapia, corn, salad and a zucchini casserole. I ate most of what was on my plate.  We sat at the table so long I ended up eating more than I normally would.

• Trip Tip #3: Clear your plate when you've eaten enough. Don't sit at the table until your pouch empties and you eat more.

The next day we went exploring and showed my daughter where she was born. We tried to go to two favorite restaurants and failed. (Too busy.) So we ended up at Chic-Fil-A where I ate some chicken nuggets and a cup of fresh fruit.

Dinner time came and we had planned to meet 8 friends at a Thai restaurant. I tried a new tactic. I ordered everything I loved: spring roll, coconut soup with chicken, and curried catfish. I ate just one fourth of the spring roll. Then I ate about 5 spoonfuls of the soup. Finally, I have to admit, I ate most of the fish. But it is the best entree I've ever found at any restaurant.

Saturday was the day of the film screenings. We had very little time to eat before the film showed, so I just had one piece of French toast, courtesy our host. I ate sugar free syrup. I was hungry afterward.

After the 4 pm showing, we ran over to another favorite restaurant where I again ordered what I wanted, and again gave much of what I'd ordered away. This was working pretty well.

The last day we were invited to a brunch at a friend's house. This was pretty easy. I ate the eggs and a couple of pieces of bacon, sticking to the protein as much as possible. I did drink some OJ, but I just couldn't resist. I then drank tons of water and avoided the buffet.

• Trip Tip #4: Stay away from the buffet.

On the way to the airport we stopped at at country cookin' type of place and I ate some smoked chicken and some veggies. I skipped the bread.

All in all, I thought I did pretty well. I overate a couple of times, but it was not too bad, and I jumped back on the horse as soon as I got home. One thing I did notice is that I need more restriction on my band. I'm more hungry than I was before, and I'm thinking about food more. 

The other thing was that my nerves about the screening probably added to my desire to eat. So I tried not to think too much about getting up in front of people to talk.

I'm back to my regular routine today, trying to clean my house for guests this weekend, when we'll go to Hershey Park on Saturday. Another hurdle in my journey toward a normal size!

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