Date Nights

My husband and I try to have a date night every Friday, it was something we worked hard to do when the kids were home and it made no sense to stop when they grew up?   One of my favorite two words are "eat" and "out".  Especially when they are put together.  I'm also very fond of the word combinations, take-out, order in and we deliver.  Now that I'm on a roll, "fast food" is a mighty combination as well.  I love it when someone else does the cooking.  I don't hate cooking, I just don't love it.  Getting a break from cooking is a huge blessing to me.  

Today's question; "How do you keep yourself from over eating when someone else does the cooking?"

That may seem like a simple question, and it should have a simple answer but for me, eating out has always been a time for over indulgence.  For some reason, in my brain, if someone else is cooking I should eat until I'm full.  I may have some chinese heritage I'm unaware of because I think it's totally rude to leave food on your plate.  If I'm paying for it I want my money's worth and that is very North American.  I also expect food that tastes good and 95% of the time it does.  And that adds to my struggle to only eat until I'm satisfied and then stop.  Sometimes I feel like a hamster running on a wheel to nowhere when it comes to food.

I don't have the whole answer to today's question, but last night I found a peice of it.  I slowed down and thought about how much I wanted and what I wanted.  I don't slow down often and I think that is why so many of us eat way too much.  We rush through so many things because we have so many things to get done.  I have to start asking myself if I have a minute to enjoy what I'm eating.  I always have a minute for an unexpected call from a friend.  I always have a minute to chat when I run into someone, I always have a minute to watch a TV show I like, ok several minutes, ok sometimes an hour.  I make time for the things I really enjoy, and although I truly enjoy food, I race through a meal like a group of kids dashing for the candy once the pinata has burst. 

I am discovering that weight lose isn't a battle against food for me, it's a battle against my mind.  I' racing to lose the weight in the same way I eat a meal.  I want to race through the feelings I'm having so I don't have to feel them.

I am going to work harder to slow down, and although that shouldn't make sense it does because the slowing down applies to my physical actions, the hard work is teaching my brain to follow.  I enjoyed last nights dinner because I slowed down, didn't eat what I didn't like and didn't eat too much of what I did.  And here's a word combination I'm not used to using at a restaraunt..."to go" please.

Have a wonderful and blessed day.