Good Eatin'

Last night, I enjoyed a wonderful evening of just
girl time with my aunt robin and Kristy (my cousin,
but we grew up and are like sisters). Kristy turned
27 today- she's sneaking up closer and closer to the
big 3 0. Kristy wanted to check into these new "fit- flops"
that came out recently that supposedly help firm your
legs and hiney if you walk in them regularly. Sounds pretty
cool, huh? Foot Locker, Bath and Body Works, and Macy's
all carry them.

After our mall venture, we decided to go
to one of my absolute all time favorite restaurants-
The Olive Garden!!! Yahoooo!!! Keep in mind I was
so starved that I about puked while waiting for Kristy
to try on some jean capris. As soon as the waitress
took our drink order- which now, I always choose either
diet coke or iced tea AND a large iced water with lemon.
(I don't drink caffeine at home any longer) - I asked her
to immediately bring those yummy breadsticks!
I knew I had read somewhere that their breadsticks
were 3 points each. Keep in mind I had only eaten
5 of my 30 points for the day. So, I was looking forward to
this meal!!! I had one serving of salad with lite Italian dressing
and ONE hot, extremely garlicy (my favorite!) breadstick.
I could have definately chose better on my meal, but when
the waitress described the "specialty meal of the night"-
I didn't realize exactly what it would be. Nonetheless, my meal
came- a bowl of cheese stuffed little pasta rectangles with
shrimp, tomatoes, and some sort of light cream sauce- OUCH!
I began to panic.... Then, I looked over at Kristy's plate
and began to covet what she had ordered!!! I can't believe
this.. but she actually ordered off the kid's menu- the grilled
chicken breast, small portion of spaghetti and sauce, along with
a huge amount of freshly steamed broccoli! All for under $5!!
It was a perfectly balanced meal!
I kept eyeballing her broccoli, and she ate everything else
on her plate except it. I enjoyed my meal and left 2 stuffed
pastas in my bowl along with all the sauce.

*Here's a tip... when you know you should be done eating, but
fear your sinful nature may raise up it's ugly head- immediately
do something gross to your food... like put another plate on top
of it. (Obviously, if you want to take it home.. that's different)
Also, I've decided it's NOT a good idea for me to take home
leftovers supposedly for someone else in the fam. Who
am I kidding? I would devour it before bedtime that very night!

I can guarantee you that if I would have looked at those last
few bites - I would have eaten them for NO good reason.
I was stuffed... yet Kristy's fresh broccoli that literally had
NO butter or grease on it whatsoever... it was calling my name.
I heard, "Kara, eat me! Eat me! I'm worth 0 points and you
need the vitamins and nutrition of me!" So I did. I felt
as though I was eating mini-trees and choked them down.

I knew dessert would be coming as we were celebrating
Kris' birthday! She loves the very dessert that I do...
White Chocolate Mousse Raspberry Cheesecake-
I could hear the angels singing "Hallalujah!!!"
I wanted Kristy to order her own piece and for
A.Robin and I to split one...but God saved me
and spared me quite a few points. Instead, Kristy
said that all of us could share one piece- brilliant!!!

The dessert arrived and it looked to die for. I
immediately made an assessment of it's most
fattening parts - The real whipped topping and the
chocolate crust would be the 2 areas for me to avoid!
So, I had a plan and slowly ate only 4 small bites of
the cheesecake. I literally savored every bite.

Praise the LORD for giving me HIS control at that
meal, cause let me tell you what I used to eat at the
Olive Garden-
2 servings of Salad
at least 3 breadsticks
Meal: Parmesan Chicken with fettucine ALFREDO
(a heart attack waiting to happen!)
OR Renay got me hooked on Portabello Mushroom
stuffed Ravioli with a creamy sun-dried tomatoe sauce.
Then, for dessert- I could hold my own for sure! A slice
of Black Bow tie Cheesecake or the White Choc. Rasp.
Cheesecake. Hmmmmmm... let's wonder why I weighed
272 lbs????
Now, I couldn't exactly find the points for what I did eat,
but I did a pretty good guestimation and know that I was
within the 25 points I had remaining. If not.. so I used
my exercise points or flex points- BIG HARRY DEAL!!
That was some good eatin'!!!!!!

FYI- side note.. if you want your hubby to take you on
a cheap, but healthy date... Subway is running that promo
of buy any footlong sub for only $5! Even if you added Baked
Lays and a drink- he'd spend under $10.

Blessings to all of you and have a healthy and safe
weekend!
**Please remember to pray for Renay, Tim and TJ as
they will be on a cruise in the Bahamas Mon-Friday of
next week!
Kara