WEEK 19-5: Happy Birthday!, Part IV

Man, am I glad this is the last day of NaBloPoMo! It's been really hard posting every single day for a month. But I'm glad I did it -- having so much focus on my diet has definitely helped me through this month of feasting and festivities.

Tonight was another dinner in honor of my birthday, and I handled it slightly better than before. I kept to my weekly goal of eating no more than half my entree, and that was really easy -- because I overdid it a little with the appetizers. We ordered two starters, which I rarely ever do, because who needs that much food? But in honor of my birthday...

One was a baked polenta with cheese and marinara sauce, so not too horrific in the calorie and fat departments. And I just ate about a quarter cup serving.

But the other starter was a fried flatbread stuffed with cheese and topped with diced tomato. I had 3 slices of that. And two slices of garlic-poppy seed bread with butter. And a gin and tonic.

By the time my penne and chicken sausage in marinara arrived, I was too full to do more than pick at it.

I might have done better if I had remembered to read my ARC and Response Cards beforehand as I had planned. I did reread Days 20 and 30, which inspired to me to create a new Response Card:

Sabotaging Thought: This is a special occasion. I deserve to treat myself
Helpful Response: If I want to lose weight and keep it off forever, I have to learn to celebrate in different ways. If I keep celebrating with food and drink, I'll put myself at risk for gaining weight. It isn't worth it!

Reading this card before dinner tonight might have kept me on the straight and narrow, but it'll have its chance to help out this weekend and throughout the holiday season.

Blogging every day of December would help my diet too, but that's a big commitment. I'm already swamped with a to-do list that seems to grow exponentially to the amount of work I do, so taking on another task seems suicidal. On the other hand, facing the trays of Christmas cookies, the stockingfuls of chocolate, the egg nog! with no more protection than my "will power"? That seems insane.

Of course once they strap me into that strait-jacket I won't have to worry about giving in to my cravings!