« It's A Very Large Cat. | Main | Stuffed Mushrooms »
March 10, 2007
Another Perfect Storm
Do y'all remember the entry a couple of months back when I got attacked by hummus at a particularly vulnerable moment?
Well, it's been about two months, and I've been doing very well. Taking my calories lower, dramatically increasing my exercise, scrubbing the bathroom with a bizarre mixture of vinegar and real cleaning products (constant source of argument between me and my environmentalist boyfriend: cleaning products. I love Tilex... he does not!) I've felt great, I look great (the boy notices that I look much slimmer and more toned, even though the scale says I'm heavier... that's muscle and water, less fat.) But overconfidence is never a good thing.
I had Friday all planned out. I was going to hit the gym at 8, do some warm up cardio before my 8:30 am Pilates class, come home and change before Luke and Susan picked me up to drive to Harrisburg to file for an election on our latest campaign, then we were all coming back to Blackfish to finally have the birthday lunch we'd been putting off for months (my birthday was August, Susan's was October, but we've all been too busy to celebrate!) I called Blackfish in the morning to find out what the soup would be. Carrot. Yum! More veggie purees!!! I was all set to order carrot soup, and the arugula salad with grilled chicken.
I got the gym, did my cardio, went to Pilates.
No teacher. Apparently she was on vaca and no one thought to tell us or set up a sub. I know she will be mad when she returns, as she is always on time and very good about showing up.
So I did more cardio. 40 mins total, hard treadmill workout, fast walk plus skipping up to 4.6 miles an hour at an incline of 4. Then I lifted light weights for twenty mins.
Then I went home to change. I was already hungry. It was quarter of ten. Yikes, thought I. But I knew I was going to have an excellent lunch at Blackfish at 1:30 so I was prepared to hang on.
Except that the trip to Harrisburg took much longer than we had planned. We were delayed at various points. Now luckily I got a skim latte on the way up, so I had a little calcium, protein, and a few nice B vitamins in me. But as we ran later and later, I got hungrier and hungrier.
Finally, at half past two, we arrived at Blackfish (at this point I have had breakfast at 6:30 and a skim latte at like 10.)
They're not serving lunch past two.
We try two more places... no lunch.
We finally end up at a steak and sushi place that I like a lot, and that i never get to go to cause my best friend who is my usual lunch companion hates it.
I read the menu. I think of Shelia, and order the sashimi lunch. Brilliant, think I. Miso soup, green salad, and raw fish, no rice. Perfect!
I eat my soup and salad. My sashimi plate arrives. It's about the size of a pea. I eat it in one bite.
I am freakin starving.
I forgot to mention that the night before, which was at the end of an intentionally light day since I'd gone out for din din on Wednesday, I had actually forgotten my megamuffin (remember, I was planning to eat my megamuffin on the way to my late evening meeting) and so gone without dinner, since I didn't want to eat right before bed when I got home.
So at this point, I've gone without dinner the night before, eaten a light breakfast (225 cals) at 6:30, had a skim latte at 10, and now it's after 3 and I've just been served a lunch the size of coaster. I am starving.
Then the afternoon took a turn for the grotesque.
I had a bite of my friend's spider roll (soft shell crab, avocado, rice.) That part wasn't too bad... in fact, it was delicious. I love sushi.
I had a California roll. Again, not perfect but not too bad.
Then Luke's plate of fries was served.
Beer battered spicy fries.
When I was a senior in college, I ate fries every night at 10 pm. I knew every fry place in New Haven. I am a French Fry fanatic, and I probably hadn't had an order of fries in over a year.
I ate about a third of Luke's plate. He had some, Susan's husband had some, Luke's wife had a few.
Wow, they were good. But not planned. And not a good use of calories.
But I was just so hungry.
The moral of the story is: pack emergency megamuffins. When you're at my calorie level and already in calorie deficit from exercise, you do not need to play around. Pack muffies! If I had eaten something healthy before lunch, I could have subsisted on the delicious yet pea sized sashimi. And still had room for dinner.
I got home and was sad. Told MR about the event. He was, as always, right there with the pep talk.
"You've been doing so well! Don't worry about it! You'll get back on the horse tomorrow!"
But I was despondent. Irrationally, absurdly sad.
Then we observed that I was in major PMS mode.
Right.
Let's see: skipped dinner the night before, ate a light breakfast, delayed lunch till after 3, had the plan for where and what we would eat switched on me at the last minute, then was confronted with an old favorite gak food. A perfect storm. Much like the hummus.
Last month, I got through PMS food cravings with careful planning and Keith Olbermann fantasies. But this month, no such luck.
Today was a good food day: quotidian breakfast, big salad for lunch, and dinner was a small serving of the stuffed mushroom dish I made MR plus a 100 g kale salad with yogurt and flax oil and salsa. Hmmmm... rockin out that calcium and B vitamins today!
It's about time for us all to go to bed... remember to set your clocks forward!
0
Posted by april at March 10, 2007 10:51 PM
Comments
I feel your pain, April. It's annoying that we have to be one step ahead of PMS. I've gone through the same thing (last month's PMS started my Eggo waffle phase) and felt like weeping. But you have done beautifully lately. And it sounds like you've bounced back quite nicely.
I agree that most places have insultingly small sashimi servings. I'm usually done my meal WAY before my friends are done. And then I'm looking at their bento boxes and tempura longingly. This is usually my cue to drown myself in green tea or else I'd order a chirashi, eat all the rice, and go home to weep.
Thanks for the welcome into the CR blog club! My new blog can be found at http://crondance.blogspot.com
After practicing CR for a year, I figured it was about time. :)
nen
Posted by: Nenette at March 10, 2007 8:43 PM
I agree. Planning is the ONLY way for me to stay on track! Great job on the rebound and MR is right. You have been doing great! So, keep your chin up and listen to the orange one.
Posted by: carolyn at March 11, 2007 12:06 PM
I feel your guys PMS pain too! I got my period yesterday and that came along with the consumption of almost half a bar of 85% dark chocolate (thats all i can eat b/c all other kinds of choclate have dairy in them). Mmm, at least its antioxidant city right.
Any suggestions on a simple recipe for mega-muffins or some bran muffin type thing I could have the cook make? I don't think I can buy half the ingredients to real mega muffins in india even.
=]
Posted by: Sarah at March 12, 2007 12:34 PM