Holly Sue - a nice, long post.

Sorry for missing a few days – I had trouble logging in.
This week was a little tricky once again, since there was a holiday on July 24 (Utah’s Independence day). (By the way, getting a veggie-burger wrap from Subway was like getting a little piece of heaven delivered to my little hands.)

On the 23rd of July I decided to stay up until 3 AM, which is when I blogged last. Because of that I slept in until 11 the next day. For my first meal I had some chips and salsa with cottage cheese, one of my all-time favorite snacks, but was still feeling hungry afterwards – I wanted seconds. So I took a Form pill. About 10 minutes after taking the pill, my sister called and said that my Dad was buying her lunch and I was invited, at a DELICIOUS burger joint. I told her I’d be glad to come, but that I wouldn’t be eating anything. It took me about 20 minutes to get all dressed and to drive over there.

My dad looked me laughing and said, “You’re seriously just going to watch us eat.” I replied, “Yes. I sure am.” This prompted my brother-in-law to wave his prime rib burger about 1 centimeter in front of my nose for about 2 minutes. I honestly didn’t want any. This is a big deal, folks, because 30 minutes earlier I was about to go get 2nds from my snack because it didn’t “fill” me.

Normally, in a situation like that I’m tempted to eat “just one French fry.” But that day, the thought didn’t even occur to me.

That evening my family decided to have a big family taco dinner. The problem is that I’m not supposed to be eating complex carbs after 2 PM. Dinner was supposed to start at 5 but actually started at 6. Now, how am I supposed to eat tacos with no carbs? Seriously! Um, ground beef, lettuce and tomato and maybe a little cheese. LAME. So I ate them. It was really gooooood. I justified it in my mind by saying that I woke up at 11 that morning and I normally wake up around 7, so since I woke up 4 hours later I could eat carbs 4 hours later. Mwahaha I’m so clever.

My appetite is absolutely smaller at this point. I was feeling pretty stuffed with one tostada and some chips and salsa. I saw other, healthy, members of my family eating 2-3 burrito-style tacos plus fruit salad and potato salad etc. Oh, I ate some fruit salad, I just remembered – the bad kind that has that yummy fluffy whipped cream stuff on it. And I had kool-aid. It was my biggest break/splurge. Funny, huh?

Good news: My mom passed out Hostess Cupcakes afterwards, which I love, and I restrained myself. The HARDEST thing, though, was when everyone started making s’mores at about 10 PM. I wanted one sooooo bad. My sister kept saying, “Don’t worry, they’re gross anyways….” But I still wanted one. I totally could have snuck some but I didn’t. It was uber hard.

Since getting back on my routine everything is pretty normal. I’ve even ventured out to some restaurants more regularly and have been able to eat. Dinner, even, which is probably the hardest meal for me to be creative with (since I can’t have any carbs and often I’ve already eaten my day’s quota of fats). The biggest challenge is that I try to avoid meat if at all possible, I see no reason to automatically include it in every meal, and it’s downright tricky to find a no-meat, no-carb, no-fat meal at a restaurant.

Last night I went to an amazing local Cuban place with some family and got this incredible grilled chicken that was flavored with limes and served with grilled onions. Oh boy! Ok, here’s another example, though. The server asked, “Do you want rice or fries.” “Neither, “ I said. But my sister goes, “Get fries and Brett (my brother-in-law) will eat them.” So I got fries. (This is the same brother-in-law, by the way.) Oh, and we had salads, and I got to eat mine with vinegar and Tabasco sauce while everyone else enjoyed ranch and bleu cheese (this is the cue to start playing a small violin for me). Anyways, my food comes out first. And I’m sitting there with this GIGANTIC PLATE of FRESH FRIES right in my face. I’m all, “Get this out of my face RIGHT NOW!” Because I was totally going into I’ll-just-have-one mode, which inevitably turns into I’ll-just-have-half-of-the-plate mode. Naturally, my other brother-in-law, Bob, grabbed a fry and held it 1 centimeter from my face. What is with these guys? I swear.

I triumphed though, and ate exactly 0 of the fries, and enjoyed my marvelous chicken. At the end of the meal, having eaten only ½ of my salad and 1/3 of my chicken (this with no Form pill, actually) and 0 side dishes like the others were having, like rice and beans, I said to myself, “Boy I’m glad I didn’t eat any of those fries, because now they don’t look good to me at all, and I feel completely satisfied with just the meat and salad.”

Ya – hoo.

On one final note, I met Rick who is the VP of Forever Green (the company that Powers O3) and he and I committed to do the Jordanelle sprint triathlon at the end of August. I wanted to put it in writing to further commit myself … Rick seems like a pretty tough guy, so I’m not worried about him following through, but I haven’t been “training” for about 2 months *gulp*