Don't Be Scared to Eat Out

The weekend is here and with it, fun and errands with the family or friends.  I used to be scared to eat out on the weekends because it is usually prepared poorly and full of hidden calories.  Even the best restaurant is not going to prepare it like you would at home.  The dressing will usually ruin you if you choose a salad.
This is where we talk about Tip #2:
Bring your own dressing.  I swear on my Michael Kors bag that there is a low calorie dressing spritz in my bag every time I leave the house when I think I might eat.  Do I care if I look weird? No, because I am a superhero.  My power is knowledge.  My husband thought I was crazy at first.  I can't seem to get him on the Healthy Train.  He is a work in progress; eating with a spouse that doesn't eat healthy and clean is an entry for another day. Back to dressings, restaurant dressing are horrible for you, full of processed junk that can ruin your hard work from the week. 
With that being said, I am also an advocate of a cheat meal once a week.  I just prefer to do mine with breakfast with my family once on the weekend.  It is bad carbs more often than not, so I backload that day.  This means I eat the bad stuff first so that my body has a way to use it up hopefully, over the course of a day. It is more important to have a nice, normal, slow paced meal that we normally don't enjoy during the week because of work, school and activities.
Sometimes it is hard. I feel guilty for eating poorly.  It will make me feel bad. I won't have as much energy as I normally do.  I will usually eat the eggs and a biscuit or cinnimon roll and drool over the rest.  I am from the South. We love our biscuits. We know how to do big breakfasts.  Eggs, sausge and/or bacon, hashbrowns, gravy and biscuits. It is a struggle every day.  I kid you not, I am a person who has to make every food choice with precision because I will gain if I don't.  I do not get it. It is not fair, but I have had to learn to deal with it.  So suck it up, buttercup! Quit using excuses.  I hate when people have every excuse in the world for not eating healthy and exercise, yet gripe about the fact that they are up a size.  Well, put down the cheeseburger and think about it.  Is it really worth it? I have to ask myself that all the time.  My weakness is ice cream.  Goodness! I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  So if I eat it, I have to run longer, walk more or put in some extra work somewhere.  It is getting into that mind set that is the real struggle here. You have to have self control and be accountable.  I was fat and lazy. The end.  I got my butt up and started to really work.  It.  Is. Work.  Every day, every meal, all the time.
So enjoy your restaurant meal. Have a lovely grilled chicked or salmon on your salad (sans croutons) with fruits or veggies...and dig into that fabulous bag of yours and pull out a healthy alternative to the dressing in the restaurant.  Be proud, straighten your cape and dig in!