luvmylife23's Journal, 01 Apr 22

It's the eating out that's the problem. There is simply no way to accurately assess the number of calories in restaurant food. The more you cook at home, the more you can control the amount of butter, oil, and other hidden calories that are runaway trains in restaurants. If you cannot or will not eat at home, then some pre-damage control can be done the day of: fresh fruit for breakfast, a leafy salad for lunch. But avoid restaurants as much as possible while trying to establish new healthy eating habits.  

JustBananas is right, I couldn’t lose for years and it was the restaurants 2-3 times a week, even if you order relatively healthy you don’t know how it was prepared 

I feel like it’s important to do measurements too- it’s so easy for me to get hung up on the scale. Restaurant food/hidden sodium could be the problem- I know I’ve had a lot of issues with processed food- I notice inflammation and weight decreases the more I can avoid it. Awesome you’re taking a closer look at habits- keep with it you’ve got this! 

Thank you all for the support. I’m gonna limit my eating out to once a week for a while and see how it goes. I just hate to cook and my hubby loves going out and socializing.  

Does your hubby need to lose weight, too? This might be good thing for everyone. And dinners don't have to be elaborate. A big "meal salad" with a protein on top is pretty easy and you get your greens in. Most effort is in just chopping stuff. You can top it with shrimp, beans, rotissary chicken, or edamame. Just go easy on any cheese or nuts, and avoid croutons (go for crunchy veggies instead, like bell peppers or cabbage -- or even fruit, like apples or pears). Lots of recipes for simple dressings if you check out Jamie Oliver. Just go crazy in the produce section of your grocery store and stock up on different flavored vinegars, too.