Day 51---My achilles heel

I really thought it was going to be the actual dining out that made me feel as if I was teetering on the edge of a Krispy Kreme doughnut. But, much to my surprise it's the fast food that has been feeling this way.

This week alone I've eaten from four, count em' four different fast food chains! Now before you get in a huff and start teasing me with the "Na na na na na" song know that all of it was bought for me--legitimately as leftovers. I sit here noshing on semi-cold Wendy's new natural cut french fries in clear view of what my 2am fast food cravings felt like.

It's sad but true that it feels good to eat this bad. And it seems to be the more I can't have something, the more I crave that very thing...

No recipe this week as I'm living eating in the past

Day 34---Food goggles

I passed the one month mark!

*Does happy dance*

I swear there has been an increase of dining out since I started this little challenge. Last week alone I was out four days nights for drinks. Also, my influx of leftovers has been a blessing in disguise.

Applebees
Chili's
BBQ
TGI Fridays

Even days old it still fills the dining out void.

I was trying to pin-point how I got here? How I got to this place where eating out is second nature and I feel an apparent emptiness when I don't.

It boggles me most because I didn't encounter fast food until I was 10 years old. Up until that point we had a chef and only consumed homemade meals.

I went from one end of the spectrum to the other and now I can't see the way back.

This week's recipe was the delicious Frozen Yogurt Bowl (Courtesy of Dishing Out the Good Stuff). I highly recommend it, especially with the summer weather!

Day 13---Yummies can be distracting

More and more am I starting to notice just how social an activity dining out is. And not only that, how completely self conscious people are when they learn that I will not be eating with them.

Everyone has said, "But I don't want to eat by myself!"

Is that why we dine out together? So that during our gluttonous ravishing we can feel that we aren't being judged?

My friends seem to think that somehow now that I am not eating out that I wield the power to judge their eating styles and habits....as if I were oblivious to them before because I was too distracted with an equally over-sized burger in my face.  This is definitely not the case and if I can be honest I feel like I am a tad more focused on our conversations simply because I do not have food as a distraction between us.

Even the waitstaff at restaurants are baffled by my polite rebuff of ordering. I can see the confusion in their face: Well why the hell are you here if you're not going to eat?

I've asked myself the same but being the socialite that I am, I still want to go out with my friends and enjoy the atmosphere that dining out has to offer. My trick so far has been to eat prior to going out and then I'm full when everyone else is eating. I made the mistake of forgetting this last week and thinking I would be okay going out to an italian restaurant. It was fine until food started coming and my tummy was growling. Luckily the place served free bread so I noshed on that and felt guilt-free knowing no tip was needed.

I'm surprised I'm not jonesing as much as I was in the beginning. Honestly I haven't craved much this past week but that could be due to my re-newed interest in some half finished projects.

Could eating out have been taking up so much of my time that I shelved other hobbies?


New recipe of the week: 60-Second Maple Brussel Sprouts (Courtesy of This Week For Dinner)