I totally agree, I try never to focus on guilt… I focus on learning to enjoy my new and healthier habits. Losing weight shouldn’t be about misery and deprivation, it should be about celebrating a new lifestyle change for the better!

Oh, not that one might not feel a few miserable moments here and there, say, when DOMS hits after a hard workout, but that’s temporary suffering! Whereas constantly denying oneself reasonable food enjoyment is just, ah, not living. And no fun. And no wonder so many people give up in disgust!

I used to be a bread lover. OK, I still AM a bread lover. But I know that it’s not the best food for my goals and therefore, it isn’t in my house. I indulge occasionally when out. And the thing is, I don’t miss it . I eat so much other great stuff, that doing without bread 90% of the time or more seems no hardship. I ate two small slices of GOOD bread last night. And that will keep me.

I think the headline relates to those places at which I’ve eaten where they really steam them to death, with no seasoning - its kind of like an afterthought for those of us who might an alternative.

Definitely agree too on “punishment” concept - On many of the diets I’ve tried it always felt as if I was the bad fat kid who now has to “pay” because I ate too many cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers aside (because that part may be true :)), the guilt aspect of dieting is what I have found to be most defeating. I want to change my habits not out of a sense of guilt, but a sense of taking charge of my health for the better.

So in essence, we are in total agreement!

Thank you for the comment - I really do appreciate it.

“While you sit quietly with your plate of dry, tasteless broiled chicken breast, rubbery unseasoned steamed vegetables…” I see the punishment as eating out at a place that serves crappy chicken breast and rubbery veggies!

Good steamed veggies are not steamed so that they are rubbery. They should still be crispish. Even I can produce steamed veggies that are quite nice to eat, with minimal seasoning and I’m no gourmet cook! I don’t have a bit of trouble producing a juicy grilled chicken breast either. I wouldn’t waste money eating out to get poorly prepared food!

If a restaurant can’t fix decent veggies, I can’t see that they would be doing so well with lobster either. Which, for the record, I vastly prefer WITHOUT butter and always have.

I like your other points, but I don’t see my new lifestyle as punishment. Instead, I’m finding healthier ways of preparing my foods and learning to appreciate the taste of the foods themselves and not hiding it with sauces. For instance, I’ve been surprised lately at just how dry sauteeing veggies in a non-stick pan can really bring out the flavor and sweetness! Something I never realized when I did them with a little spray of oil.

But I agree, if you are going to eat out, enjoy, but enjoy in moderation. Keep up exercise, make choices. It might be OK for instance to, like I did last night, ask for more vegetables and NO rice pilaf. Have a little wonderful fresh bread, but not ask for more in the basket. Share a drink with hubby, as opposed to us each having our own.

I’m not punishing myself, I’m living! And finding that well, the crap food I used to crave, really doesn’t excite my taste buds any longer.

This is the first of a seven part series on dining out using the principles of eating real food in moderation. These articles include a handful of specific techniques that you can use to your dietary advantage, but each discussion focuses primarily on …