Saturday 28 February 2009

An exercise in self-restraint

This evening is going to be a bit of a test for me as I'm attending a dinner party at a friends house. In fact this whole week has been a bit of an exercise in self-control as I've been out socialising quite a bit.

Following the successful visit to the cinema on Tuesday, I stayed with a friend on Thursday night, and she was nice enough to ask me what I'd like for dinner, since she knows I'm on WW. Made a healthy choice (grilled scampi, jacket potato, peas and salad - yum) and stuck to my pre-decided limit on the alcohol.

Last night was pub night - I made the decision to indulge in a Chinese takeaway since I had quite a few points left at dinner time, but decided not to push my luck too far and investigated the invaluable resource that is Noreen's blog to check out points values before I even considered what I wanted. Luckily for me Chow Mein is one of my favourite dishes, but just by making a conscious decision on what I was ordering before I left the house I felt far more in control. I'm not entirely convinced that a portion of Chow Mein from the takeaway is really only 7.5 points, but there you go - it's not something I do often and my god it was nice!!! Decided I wanted to be able to drink last night, as I've been staying away from it recently - so approached last night from a point of view of alternating vodka and slimline tonics with diet cokes - having made my decisions before I got to the pub, I was then able to have a nice relaxed evening knowing everything was sensibly accounted for. Luckily, our awesome local pub (The Nags Head - really is superb) is a 15 / 20 min walk away from the house - so I get the bonus of earning some activity points on the way there and back!

Back to my opening topic though - dinner parties! This is going to be a bit more of a challenge, as I get no option to choose my food, and it's not going to be hugely diet friendly. So - I've decided to point it all up this morning as best I can, and then work the rest of my day around it. The food, as best I can work out, is going to come out at something like a whopping 27 points - before wine and other drinks!! (FYI - my daily points allowance is only 24). Thankfully, the same people who are holding and attending the dinner party, are also going mountain-biking today. I'm going to go too, as that should be good for about 8.5 activity points. I've also got a few saved points from earlier in the week, and I thought if I have a bowl of cereal for breakfast before I go on the bike ride, and make some quick vegetable soup when I get back, that minimises the damage for the rest of the day. I want to be able to enjoy tonight without feeling guilty - I can't make lifelong changes if I can't handle social occasions - so I'm just going to have to find a way to deal with them!

Still, after all this eating out this week if I can even make a tiny loss of half a lb on Monday I'll be super happy - not for the loss itself, but for the proof that I can enjoy my lifestyle and still make it work - wish me luck!!

On a different note, I treated myself to a little bit of shopping yesterday on my afternoon off - and I was soooooo good!!!! Shopping's a major downfall for me - I see all the shiny things and promptly lose any hint of self-restraint! So I went in yesterday thinking if I set myself a budget of £40 then I won't feel guilty afterwards - and I stuck to it!!! In fact, not only did I stick to it, but I got loads of bargains so was super happy - I should do this more often!!!!

Found some lovely underwear in M & S that was on the sale rack - £10 for a bra and knickers set, and they're so pretty!! Then went into New Look, where it's always a bit touch and go as to whether stuff fits me. Picked up about 5 skirts and trousers, and with the exception of one short skirt which was ridiculously small and wouldn't even do up (strange since they were all the same size - an 18), the others all fitted pretty comfortably - was rather chuffed. I found some nice work trousers, but they were beaten hands-down by the skirt I bought - a black pencil skirt, with the current fashionable high waist and tuxedo detailing across the waist band. I've not tried any of the high-waisted ones on before, and this one is ridiculously flattering (well I think so anyway!). Gives me some great curves (I'm naturally high-waisted with flaring hips anyway), but also seems to really flatten out the belly and hug the bottom - love it!!! And it was a tiny £17!! Tried it on with a black ruffled shirt tucked in when I got home - know what I'm wearing to work on Monday!! :o) My final purchase were some killer heels (a measly £15) - also from New Look - dark red, slight snakeskin effect (sounds gross - actually looks nice), with hidden platform and square toes .... and 5in heels!!! The only slight problem appears to be that they were actually a tiny bit loose when I got them home, but nothing some heel grips won't fix. Couldn't believe how comfy they were to walk in though - doesn't seem right!

Hey ho - more items for my bulging wardrobe - perhaps I should instigate a new "one in, one out" policy on my wardrobe at this point and actually go through and throw out some stuff too ....

Right I've rambled for long enough - have a great weekend all!

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