As you know, it was my 39th birthday yesterday. A few of my friends at work like to get together for lunch for each other's birthdays. The routine is to go to a restaurant that is within walking distance to our work. A few weeks ago when we discussed my birthday lunch, we decided we would go to a delicious restaurant called "Aroma Meze" the day after my birthday. It is a lovely, little restaurant that serves small plates of various Greek dishes. They give you a menu with approximately 20-25 choices and you choose 4 which are then served to you in smaller portions so you can sample the dishes (as opposed to having a big dish of just one selection). I really do love the food there and it has been a really long time since I have been there so I was really looking forward to going.
Unfortunately though, this became Challenge # 1 on this journey of mine. Why? Well, as much as I absolutely love the food there, I find that the vegetarian dishes to be a bit higher in fat then I would like. Some are fried, some are deep fried, some are baked in lots of cheese etc. You get the picture. Seeing as this was Day # 2 of my "weight loss journey" (not sure what else to call it), I decided that it would be too early to "treat" myself to this restaurant. I call it a treat because I would have to be careful of my food intake for the rest of the week as a result of one lunch. Don't get me wrong, I know all about "everything in moderation" and "you can't deprive yourself" and "you can treat yourself now and again" but NOT on Day #2. I just figured that this would be sabotaging my efforts and I would not be starting off on the right foot.
So, this morning before the lunch, I discussed this issue with my friends and asked if they would mind if we changed locations. They were very understanding and one of them even said "This is YOUR birthday lunch and if it is going to cause you to be stressed about it then we don't want to celebrate your lunch there" (well, maybe not word for word but that is what she was trying to say). I am sure they all wanted to go to Aroma Meze as much as I did but we decided that we could go back there in a few months time when I feel much more comfortable (read: less guilty) treating myself!
We ended up having a lovely Birthday lunch at a little Italian place a few blocks away that have wonderful salads. I had a scrumptious salad loaded with grilled veggies, oyster mushrooms & goat cheese and a slice of homemade bread with rosemary. I was very honest with my tracking and calculated it to be about 15 points (the cheese & dressing & bread really rack up the points) but that was still better then the alternative on that day.
Thanks again, ladies, for a wonderful lunch!!
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