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I started this weekend knowing I’d face temptation, but SELF magazine’s Jump Start Diet guided me every step of the way.
Sunday didn’t go exactly as planned, but it was still a great day. My boyfriend Addison decided to go without me to our favorite pizza buffet to say his goodbyes before it closed for good. Turns out it wasn’t really that sentimental to him about our relationship as I thought. Good for me though. Now I didn’t have to pay the buffet fee to eat salad while watching him eat plates upon plates of pizza. It was a win-win situation.
But then there was the potluck I attended for work. I knew going into the situation I would be faced with more temptation than I had faced since I started this dieting journey. After all, it is a social event centered entirely around food. However, I was determined to succeed.
I first prepared myself by eating a healthy late lunch of a turkey burger with avocado and grapes. I decided not to have a snack since the potluck started at 4 p.m. and figured I could save the calories since I didn’t know what to expect at the dinner. I also brought a healthy dish myself. Being Italian, bruschetta is a go-to quickie appetizer that is not only fresh and delicious, but healthy as well. Basically it is just chopped tomato with fresh basil, garlic and a splash of balsamic vinegar served on little pieces of bread with small slices of mozzarella (and the cheese is optional). At first I was worried about bringing it because no one ever wants to have that one dish no one eats, but actually I think it was a hit with coworkers.
Luckily for me, someone brought a beautiful fruit platter with everything you could think of. This made things a
whole lot easier for me. Now, as I went around taking polite little tastes of some dishes, for every taste of something probably unhealthy, I packed on three slices of apple and two strawberries (sometimes alternating with some of the melon on the plate as well). This totally filled me up really fast so instead of eating tons of chips and dip like I would normally at a potluck, I’d have one chip with a polite taste to tell the maker how yummy it was and then a bunch of fruit.
Also, I didn’t have a “little of everything” as is custom at most potlucks. I actually was choosey. Someone brought in some of my favorite pizza. Did I want it? SURE! But, I actually know what it tastes like and the guy who brought it didn’t make it himself so I passed. If someone homemade something, I would have a little nibble to contribute to small talk and to add to the compliment pool. But I avoided all things store bought.
My choosey-ness coupled with my fruit-to- other food ratio really helped ease my succumbing to temptation, but boy was it hard. Still, I survived my first weekend dieting without really feeling too much like a dieter. Tomorrow is weigh-in day so we’ll see if all this is really paying off!
How was your weekend? Email me at NikkiRoberti@HerCampus.com or Tweet me @Nikki_Roberti anytime! And don’t forget to sign up for SELF magazine’s Jump Start Diet too! It’s easy and free!