Going out to eat. Uh oh. What now?

The first time I went out to dinner after beginning this diet, I was immediately flustered when cruising through the menu. Almost nothing there was even close to compatible with my diet. I went over and over and over the choices, and narrowed it down to a few 'almost okay' selections, and was getting a little grouchy even.  Looking back I'm embarrassed - it's not the restaurant's fault, after all.

Then Parul said, "Just ask them to make you something else, they'll do it."

Of course, that's true.  Restaurants want you to be a customer and come back and they will happily change stuff if you ask. No sauce on that. Can I get some green salad instead of rice?  Can I get lettuce wrap instead of a bun, and grilled chicken instead of breaded?

So that's the tip of the day here, don't be afraid to ask the people working at a restaurant to help you out with a few small changes.  Also, be polite to them.  The food there is built to appeal to the masses, and in this country, the masses like stuff that is fried, oily, drenched in sauces and served with stuff to dip it in.

I've actually found that when Leslie and I go to the Mongolian Grill place near work for lunch on Fridays, the woman who works there gets a big smile when we tell her, "No rice, no sauce." She even nodded approvingly once and said, "Yes, very healthy, good!"

When you choose to have a different diet, you just have to be polite and ask for some alterations to your meal, and of course, express your sincere thanks when places are helpful to you.  As they say, you get more flies with honey...

With that in mind, I totally cheated last night for dinner.  We went to The Silver Spoon in Lynnwood for Thai last night, because Dawn was home early. I got sizzling garlic beef - beef with lettuce, diced garlic and some sort of hoisin sauce.  I'm pretty sure the sauce is not OK on my plan - but you know what? I've lost almost 37 pounds in 6 weeks, and I decided it was juuuust fine.

My scale agrees, no changes today.

I've simply learned to eat less, and make better choices.  I could have had spring rolls like we usually order, but I didn't.  I could have ordered something which veggies not on my 'OK' list - I didn't.

Holy crap. I've learned to be responsible about food.

Someone check to make sure the world is still turning.