A Plan For Life
The husband and I had a great night of uninterrupted sleep and got to lounge around in the morning since the daughters were at my parents. We miss them so much when they’re gone, but it was nice to have such a leisurely morning!
I spent some time blogging and catching up on blog reading. Before I knew it, it was close to 11:00 a.m. and I hadn’t eaten yet! I had to fix that and quick 
I whipped up a huge bowl of plain nonfat greek yogurt (TJ’s brand), strawberries and 1/4 cup of Special K granola…
I just came across the Special K granola in the supermarket. I believe it’s fairly new. And pretty POINT-friendly for granola…
I wanted to run today, but it was raining like crazy and the treadmill wasn’t exciting me since we have limited TV channels in the dungeon basement to hold my attention. I didn’t want to skip working out altogether though, so I went to Plan B…
We are housing the Life Cycle bike for my parents while they are building their new home. I thought it would be a decent fill-in for my run and I could read while biking to avoid being bored and stuck down in the dungeon lovely basement.
My reading material…
I have seen this book being discussed around the blogosphere and checked it out of my library this weekend. I can’t tell you how stoked I am about this book !!! I started reading it while riding and didn’t want to stop. It is chock full of great advice and information so far. It involves a process and skills to learn how to manage weight loss for a lifetime! Guess what one of the tools that the author recommends is? Flashcards!!! Well, she doesn’t exactly call them that. She refers to them as Response Cards, but just seeing this being suggested and discussed made me feel so positive about what I am doing. I feel confident that I’m on the right track with these!
Thanks to The Beck Diet for Life, I had a great 35 minute bike workout equaling 12 miles. Fun!
Later, the husband and I headed to my parents’ house to have dinner all together for the last time in their current house. I lived in that house from the time I was 12, so we had lots of great memories there. I know we’ll miss the pool for sure!
I knew my Mom had planned a huge dinner and I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to handle it. I thought about maybe bringing my own dinner, but realized that I would most likely feel uncomfortable and deprived if I wasn’t eating the delicious food my Mom was making. Normally, I would start to come up with a variety of excuses for not sticking with a plan of eating well. I came across many of the excuses I have used in the past in a chapter of The Beck Diet for Life…
I’ve used many of those. The last two statements were already forming in my head before I even got to my parents’ house! So, I came up with a plan of action for how I would approach dinner time and told myself I was sticking with it. Period.
First, I ate a light lunch when we arrived at the house. A filling bowl of Progresso chicken barley soup…
and an Arnold Sandwich Thin with cheese…
When dinner rolled around, I was prepared with my plan. Pasta is the hardest for me to resist. I grew up with large portions of pasta as the norm, so a recommended serving (1 cup) does not cut it for me. Besides, pasta is usually just the first course for our big dinners!
I knew there would be other, more filling foods to enjoy, so I opted out of this…
But, what would I eat while everyone was chowing down on delicious tortellini?? I decided my first course would be a big salad served in a pasta bowl like everyone else had 
Just noticed my carrots said “hi”!
My Mom had an assortment of meats to choose from including breaded chicken cutlets, meatballs, short ribs and sausage. She also made a boatload of broccoli and had some fabulous rustic bread for the table.
I decided ahead of time that I would eat the chicken and broccoli, but no bread since I have a hard time limiting myself to one piece…
It was all delicious!
We said our goodbyes to the “house” and headed home. I felt in the mood for a little dessert, so I broke out an old favorite…
Remember the Deep Chocolate Vitatop with PB2??? I forgot how awesome this dessert is! It was a great ending to a perfectly planned day 
GTG – Day 5 : Total – 22 POINTS
Don’t forget to enter the Souper Giveaway!
ONE GOOD THING: Family get-togethers and dinners are often a minefield for me. There are so many delicious foods to eat and I have a difficult time limiting myself when the options are plentiful (especially pasta!). Today, I felt like I managed it well. I had an advance plan that wouldn’t leave me feeling deprived and I stuck to it. I knew I would overeat if I just chose the pasta because it wouldn’t have been filling enough. Resisting it altogether made it easier to enjoy my other foods and I left the table feeling satisfied with what I ate and with my choices.
Have a great day, everyone!
What is your favorite family dinner?
Questions? Email me! aloserforlife@gmail.com
25 comments
I think I have a version of that book somewhere! I just haven’t read it yet. Now if I could only remember where I put that sucker!
My favorite family meal? Hmmm…frittata….I love breakfast for dinner! There’s something so relaxed and comforting about it that brings back warm memories.
I love Thanksgiving..well when I could eat the damn stuff and stuffing.
I challenge you to get to a place where you can actually have one bite of something, enjoy that one bite and continue to stay focused on the healthy options which are going to fulfill you. That is where you are working towards–hellz bellz–that’s what I am working towards.
I think that WW does a good job of making everyone aware of their food choices..and I owe that to them. However, getting to a place where temptation isn’t the sole focus of energy is what I hope to be at.
small.baby.steps
Marisa Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 9:25 am
I know exactly what you are saying. I have had those times where I can have just a little bit of something…just a taste… and continue on with the rest of my meal. But, most times, and especially when it comes to these huge multi-course family dinners, I end up either overeating big time or feeling extremely deprived after the meal. I’m a food addict, no doubt, and I have finally come to the realization that sometimes I just gotta say NO. Sometimes, I will not be able to eat just one bite or a small amount. And I’m okay with that. I am changing my mindset and not looking at it as deprivation. It’s not deprivation; it’s honoring my body and exercising self-control. When I look at it that way, it makes me feel much more empowered! It won’t always be perfect, but it will definitely be progress!
I’m with ya… small.baby.steps!
I haven’t read that book yet, but would like to!
My favorite family dinner are my mom’s homemade enchiladas! They are incredible!
A thought struck me as I was reading your blog- yesterday we had a family gathering and for other reasons I chose not to eat , but that choice made me worry that I might be hurting someone’s feelings by not eating. My reason for not eating was more powerful than any offense I could create, and so I stuck with my plan. No one made mention or even seemed to notice my choice. I kept thinking this is one of those multi faceted lessons in life- sometimes I think we expect reactions that just never happen, but behave like they will. In different ways I think you had the same experience yesterday.
My favorite was my Husband’s Grandmothers Arrancini. Sadly she passed away about 4 years ago so they can only be made in her honor, but they are never the same.
Marisa Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Love Arrancini! My Gram makes it great, too! Nothing like a Grandmom’s love
Way to go girl! You handled the family dinner very well!!
And I might have to check out that book myself now, I’ve seen it pop up on a few blogs lately as well!!
Happy Monday
It looks like you have one heck of a plan… I always struggle with social events because I say “when am I going to have xyz again?” and then indulge. Fact of the matter is, xyz is never as good as i think it will be!
Oh my gosh- AGAIN I am jumping up and down happy for you and the choices that you made!!! WOW! You are on a roll my friend! CONGRATS!
I love the carrots saying hi! You did great on that family dinner – they can be extremely tricky. Maybe I should be glad we have no family nearby! (But I’m not. . .)
Our favorite family dinner is probably lasagne or chicken and dumplings! Yum!!
I’m glad your family dinner went so well!
Great job! Having a plan is so important.
Have a great week!
The pictures of your family dinners have always gotten to me in the past. They must all be wonderful cooks. THe pasta…OMG I think I drooled a little. You are a stronger woman than I! I would have been like a Hoover on that tortellini. Sucked it right up. LOL
Congrats for sticking with it so perfectly. You’re awesome.
Get togethers are ALWAYS where I have the biggest trouble keeping things limited too. Because I always want to try everything. Kudos to you for doing so well! And I’m going to look into that book.
I love that your salad said hi! That was an amazing way to handle the family meal, what great resistance!
You did a great job!! I agree, when you have all that good food in front of you, I sometimes think “she took so many hours to prepare the food, it would be rude if I don’t eat it!”
Hooray for being strong! We had lots of meat and potatoes growing up – my Dad was the best at putting together my baked potato – butter AND sour cream AND bacon bits, and I would ask for everyone’s steak fat – and I wonder how I developed a weight problem?!
Happy Monday!
Dr. Beck is a genius. You deserve to feel good after doing that planning and sticking to it! WTG!
So remember my chocolate banana chia breakfast cookies? I have been eating 1/2 of one at a time with 1/2 a Tbsp of peanut butter and it’s keeping me full until lunch time! I totally love those things.
Marisa Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
So glad you liked them! I gotta make some more today! Such a quick and easy breakfast.
Where do you get your PB2? It looked incredible with the Vitatop!
Marisa Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
I order directly from the company: http://www.bellplantation.com
It’s terrific!
That’s my go t0 breakfast – Chocolate Vitatop w/ PB2!
I made your Banana Walnut breakfast cookies today – YUM! They may just replace my Vitatops. I made some changes – I made them into 100 calorie portions, and added a wee bit of chocolate, so I can have 2 of them in the morning just like my Vitatops. I’m gonna share it with my readers tomorrow (with a link to your recipe of course)!
Marisa Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Thanks, Jenn! So glad you like them and yes, change away! The best part of finding recipes you like is reworking them to fit into your eating plan!
tee hee – i love your talking carrots!
Ooooh, subversive messages in the salad – yikes! ;P Family dinners can be tough. What works for me is to just plan a family dinner every Sunday night, with dessert, and know that I’m going to have it. This keeps me from indulging during the rest of the week. I love to do chicken parmigiana with spaghetti and a big salad. Not the healthiest, but not the worst, either. I go light on the cheese, use whole wheat spaghetti, nothing is fried, and I eat a reasonable portion. Loading up on salad helps, too. Marisa, congrats on your new start and good luck on your journey. You’re gonna make it, girl!
I have heard a ton about the Beck book, but how cool they talk about flash cards and you totally did those for the new year?! Cool!! Awesome way to stick within your points girl! Success!
Isn’t that the best book…ever? For anyone who has EVER struggled with those voices in their head telling them to eat, this book is amazing!