Here's how my night went...
So I mean, after a workout that consisted of TRX, ladder agility and box jumps, I was feeling pretty okay. That is until two of our good friends from Bootcamp asked my roommate and I if we wanted to do dinner at a local Italian Restaurant.
My immediate thought was, "NO! Why? How can you tempt me like this? We're all doing this challenge together, it's Monday, I was trying to start this week out well, I took meat out to make when I got home, ugh!"
So at first I said no. I reminded my roommate that dinner was waiting for us at home. But then she told me she wanted to go with them. "We're just going to order salads!"
Now, don't get me started on how I feel about going out for dinner and ordering a salad.
Well fine, I'm already started.
Ahem:
"Can I take your order?"
"Yes please! I'll have the Greek Salad!"
"Would you like to add chicken to your salad for 2.99?"
"Sounds great!"
10 Minutes Pass....
"Here you go!"
You receive salad which consists of a handful of mixed lettuce from a bag, half a tomato, quarter of a cucumber, a few slices of red onion, a tablespoon of olives, and maybeee some feta cheese, topped with that chicken breast you had to pay extra for. The salad is nothing more than mediocre, and it costs you a whopping $15 after tax!
"What? Huh? For this?"
"Well dear, you added chicken!"
Take that $15, go buy yourself fresh lettuce, 2 tomatoes, a whole cucumber, a bag FULL of onions, a jar of olives and some feta cheese, and chicken on sale- I promise you won't have to add much more than $5 to that bill and you'll have salads for over a week! And not only that, but they'll be fresher, tastier and better for you.
Back to the point.
So I hate going out for dinner for a salad, especially at an Italian place that I knowww serves ALL YOU CAN EAT pasta and pizza on Monday nights (*slow tear*).
But, when we got home the meat was still frozen. I figured since my roommate wasn't going to eat with me anyway, I went.
And although my salad looked like this:
the sauce on my gluten free pasta tasted like Chef Boyardee, and my bill totalled $18 for what was supposed to be a 10.99 special ("but you added gluten free pasta!") I was hella glad I went with them.
But Brittany, why the change of heart?
Here's why:
Although I had entirely too many nights out last week, it is important to have them in moderation. And not only do you need these nights out, you need them with people who are on the same page and support you!
I had a bad week last week. I went out for lunch and dinner too many times, and didn't follow the diet or exercise plan to a T. I wanted this week to be better. And I thought going out for dinner with these ladies would hinder that desire. But truly, and surprisingly, it it helped.
We talked diet and exercise tips, we encouraged each other's order choices, and we all felt excited to be hanging out together, talking food restrictions with people who get it!
This challenge has been HARD, but what's harder is explaining it to other people.
"But like, you can't have bread? That sucks."
"Whoa, I'd die without chocolate."
"I love cheese! Sucks!"
"But like, pitas aren't bad for you...!"
The list goes on. And it's not like these people are wrong, or that they mean tobe unsupportive. In fact they probably do think they are being supportive through empathizing and acknowledging the challenge of the challenge. But what helps the most is encouragement and acceptance.
That's why I needed last night's dinner.
The thing that encouraged me the most from last night was when one of the ladies said to me, "so, you had a bad week. so what? How many weeks do you have in your life? Did you expect them all to be good? No way! But you can't go, 'well, I had a bad week, I guess this is done'. Nope! Not happening! Just make this week a good one and KEEP GOING!"
So here I am, keeping at it.
Love you ladies, see you to kick some cardio butt tonight!
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