County fairs are about more than tractor-pullin'!

First order of business:  this is my 90th post.  What??  I had no idea.  I guess I really DO talk a lot.  :)

Next up:  I'm back, baby!

I realized this weekend that eating right is something that I really like doing.  This weekend was the county fair at home.  I love fair time.  Nothing like fried bits and demo derbies to get you happy, right?  Well, minus the fried bits, I guess.  When I was a kid, nothing was more great than getting my gobble on with the fair food.  I mean, it came about once a year.  I was going to go ape-shite on the cheese curds and Mt. Dew out of the giant milk cartons (attendees of the BCF know exactly what those were...!).  Ape. S.  It's not as if we went out to find the greasiest foods available, but I'd be all kinds of lying if I said there was ever a salad (or vegetable outside of french fries and ketchup) eaten during those four days of glory.

But now, as an adult, all the mini donuts and corn dogs just couldn't do it for me.  The corn dog by itself would have been fine.  The cheese curds by themselves would have been okay.  But the dog and the curds and the cheese fries and the donuts...not awesome.  I feel like I should note that I did NOT eat all those things by myself.  I had plenty of help.  It's just that they were consumed all within probably an hour and a half.  NOT good.

Not only did my belly hurt, I just didn't feel good.  Groggy.  Generally unhappy.

Here's what I learned.  Next time I go to one of these things, I need to bring some fruit.  GRANTED, the Gburg fair isn't really a big enough deal that I couldn't have left the fairgrounds and wandered to the 'ol IGA and gotten some fruit (or just traipsed off to the BP down the road...) - unlike, say, the state fair.  But, I plan on making sure I have a game plan when I go to the other couple of fairs that I'm going to this summer.  #1 part of the plan = moderation station.  Perhaps, let's go ahead and have all that stuff - but do a bunch of walking and water-drinking in between.  And share with everyone I can find.

It's kind of nice to know that all the learning that I've put in has actually sunk in.  I had chicken, a wild rice mix, and corn on the cob for dinner.  And it was awesome.  Just what I wanted.  Guess I'm growing up a little bit in my food choices.  I'm willing to trade the mini donuts in for that.

Happy Friday!!

Yes, my life is that interesting - I'm blogging on a Friday night.  Did I mention that I have not one, but two cats sitting next to me?  How am I married?!  :)

Anyway.  To The Reason of the post.

I need to work on meal planning.  REALLY need to work on meal planning.  I just suck at it.  I know that it's something that I really need to do to give myself absolutely no excuses for not eating well.  But seriously.  I don't want to plan what I'm having way before I want to have it.  Mostly because it involves thinking about food when I'm not hungry.  I just don't want to make those calls before I think about what I want.

Now, that being said, I do realize that I need to get over that.  It's a fact that people who shop when they're hungry tend to go outside of their food plans (if they have any).  Plain and simple, it's not a good plan.

I'm not talking just about grocery shopping and home-prepped meals either.  I'm talking also about the surprise lunches at work or the "hey, let's just go grab something" meals that pop up.  Por ejemplo, today we went to Arby's.  The 'ol chicken club thingy (no mayo, natch - could have done without the cheese that I couldn't actually taste too...), which wasn't horrible - 350 cals.  Not bad for a full sammie.  It's those rotten (FRIGGIN' DELICIOUS!!!!!!) curly fries that'll get you.  A SMALL is 450 calories.  FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY CALORIES IN A SMALL.
What could I have done to prevent mowing down an extra meals' worth of grub at lunch?  Planned ahead, kimosabe.  Knew going in that those little spirals from heaven were such calorie bombs.  The thing that makes me roll my eyes at myself is that I have my damn phone and my little myfitnesspal app.  All. The. Time.

So, here's to another goal.

Starting this Sunday, I will make a meal plan for at least three meals next week.  NOT counting lunches - I will be making my own version of the unbelievably good Jimmy John's Unwich.  Not because I think I can do it better than they can (that's just foolish!), but because I'm cheap.  And because it's weird to go to JJ's five days a week.  It's strange when the peeps at the food joints know you.  Particularly the crazy happy folks at Jim's.
I will also strive to do a better job of pre-planning when it comes to impromptu lunches away from my fake JJ wiches.  I will look at the menu for wherever we're going, and I will figure out what the best thing I can eat is.  And then I'll possibly plan to take a run at the elliptical after the DVD of ass-kicking.  You know, depending on what the outcome of my little jaunt into the world of eating out.

There's my promise!  I really want to re-dedicate myself to this eating better thing.  I NEED to re-dedicate myself.  Stepped on the scale at work, and am down another two pounds, so I'm pretty excited.  I'm finally getting over that middle-of-the-10 hump that I seem to get myself jammed into.  I'm now on the lower end of the 10!  Woo!  I want to keep that momentum going into the summer and the getting outside and doing stuff for several months.

Anyone have any tricks for being more attentive to their meal planning?  I kind of think it's going to end up being like working out - where I just have to say to myself:  "Self?  We're doing this" and just do it.