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Monday 15 February 2016

Did you eat out this weekend?



15th February 2016
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
Monday morning, the day most people take stock and think "Blown the weekend", then they either decide to get back on it or carry on with the damage and give up.  Giving up is never an option, you can't give up taking care of yourself, that's like giving up on life really and that's not a good option!

I'm guessing a lot of people ate out this weekend, heck even I did a 3 course lunch on Friday, it was delicious by the way and I didn't have to eat again that day but it'll have still took me over my Points, hey ho, I've got a lovely healthy Chicken Hotpot planned for today, I'll even take the skin off the chicken legs.  And, that's what I call a healthy, balanced diet, it's emotionally and psychically healthy, I'm enjoying my food, I'm enjoying my life and I'm not having negative thoughts about my behaviour.  Yes, I've indulged but it was done from a controlled, positive place not a place of uncontrolled, negativeness where I end up with sod it syndrome.

We are allowed to treat ourselves to a meal out!  Yes restaurants can be a minefield if you're trying to stick to a healthy eating plan.  Sometimes we also think who cares how much butter the chef has added to the sauce and how much cream to the soup, it's a special occasion and I'm going to enjoy it and not think about the nutritional content, we want that pudding!  However other times want to stay on track and to do so, we've got to get smart and work it out. 

How? Be nosey - ask how the food is being cooked, or insist on your dish being served the way you want it, grilled rather than fried, without butter or sauces, with an undressed salad or ask for plain potatoes.  You're paying don't forget!

Instead of chips, ask for a side salad or new potatoes.  Check the menu out online before you go, here are some examples I've just found on esource to show you a comparison between a few meals, the beauty of somewhere like Wetherspoons is you can use them as a guideline for other pub meals that don't supply the nutritional information.

Wetherspoons Surf & Turf 46 Smart Points

Wetherspoons Breaded Scampi  30 Smart Points

Wetherspoons Skinny Chicken Burger with Salad 13 Smart Points

Wetherspoons Salads Salmon Salad  11 Smart Points

Wetherspoons Steak Club Skinny Steak with Freedom Salad 19 Smart Points

If you think about what you're going to order before you go, you're in a better headspace, then don't look at the menu when you get there and resist temptation.  It's all in the planning.

I wouldn't recommend not eating all day before you go either, that just gives you a crazy appetite when you arrive in a place that will bring you as much food as you ask for - not a great idea!  So have soup or fruit an hour or so before so you're not tempted to overeat.

Always try to order first, there's nothing worse than sitting there listening to what everyone else is ordering, again temptation creeps in.  If you're like me, ask them to take the bread basket away too! 

And if takeaways are more your thing then you could consider the fakeaway options, I had a delicious Cauliflower rogan josh with lentil dhal and chapati yesterday for 10sp, if I'd do the poppadoms and salad stuff it would've been even more takeaway like.   I like the idea of homemade Tandoori chicken with rice and salad, here's a recipe;

Tandoori Chicken
4sp total

1 garlic clove – crushed
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cumin seeds or ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon low fat plain yogurt
½ teaspoon salt
350g chicken breast cut into cubes

Mix all ingredients except chicken in a bowl. 
Stir in chicken, cover bowl and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes (or overnight)
Thread chicken onto skewers and cook for 12-15 minutes under a medium hot grill turning frequently and basting with the remaining marinade. 

If you really want to have the takeaway, Smart Point guestimate it, don't pretend you don't know what's in it and if you honestly don't know - should you be eating it!

Here are a couple of older blogs for reference;

Look at the dish, if it's chicken chop suey say, there's chicken in it, so would they give you more than a breast in a dish - no, so that's 2sp, the beansprouts will be zero as will the other veggies in there, but is there oil in there, I'm sure there's a couple of teaspoons at least so that's about 3sp, then there would be the sauces, which would be roughly 1 Smart Point per tablespoon, so use your logic, how big is the dish, how many spoonfuls are in it, then best guestimate.

Right I'm waffling and going off on a tangent so I'm off to get on with my day, it's gone half seven, I had a lie in - YAY. 

However your weekend went, agree you enjoyed yourself at the time, so now let's make our weekdays healthy to balance it out, you up for that BeYOUtiful. What's on your menu today?  I know mine includes chicken and possibly egg and tomatoes for brekkie, mmm.

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