Back in town
Posted by Anna
I don’t know why it is when faced with a free hotel breakfast, I feel cheated if I have my normal yoghurt or cereal. Why do I have to have both? And why, when in response to my request for a pot of tea, the waitress asks, “Would you like some toast, as well?” I don’t say, “No thanks, I’ve already eaten more than I usually do!”
That was a rhetorical question, really, because I know the reason why. It’s free and it’s a ‘waste’ not to take advantage. Isn’t that often the issue when you’re on a ‘freebie’? I console myself that I avoided all the cooked breakfast items and the yummy pastries (I adore pain au raisin). My rationale this morning was that I’d have a light lunch to make up for it (and I did, stopping in at M&S Simply Food at the station for a low-cal sarnie). At the offer of breakfast on the train back, I only accepted the fresh fruit platter on the grounds that I don’t eat enough fruit as it is and this was a perfect opportunity to make up for it now, at no cost other than to my calorie counter.
I’m reading a book written by a Prof of Psychology at Virginia Uni who is in the process of explaining why it is that our rational self says, “I will do this”, but we actually end up either not doing it or doing the opposite. Once I grasp the idea, I’ll share it with you — it seems to be about a conflict between our rational self and our emotional self (it’s more complex than that, though). This phenomenon would certainly explain why we so often let ourselves down when dieting (or giving up smoking, or following an exercise regime, etc.).
Having gone straight to work off the train from Liverpool early this afternoon, I stayed late and finally arrived home with a strong urge to have lemon chicken for dinner. Despite having foodstuffs in the freezer with far fewer calories, an hour at home didn’t dispell my longing and I finally caved in at 8pm. I don’t really know how many calories it was, but there was no more than 200g of chicken, the batter was the thinnest of coverings and around 150g of rice, plus a yummy lemon sauce. I did my food table to check the total before deciding if I could have a little 60 calorie diet chocolate mousse or not. One look at the total and it was ‘not’. Oh well. :-)
I was disappointed not to be able to walk home in this wonderfully warm weather we’re experiencing, but my overnight roller bag would have been a nightmare over the nearly two and a half mile walk. That said, it was probably just as well as walking from my work to the station, I had to fight my way through hoards of women making their way to Battersea Park for a 5k Race for Life event. Even so, I still managed 6400 steps today, which isn’t bad.
| Breakfast | Yoghurt | 125 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 weetabix | 80 | |
| 2 slices toast + thin skim of flora and marmalade | 200 | |
| Snack | Small fruit salad | 70 |
| Lunch | M&S plain chicken sandwich | 250 |
| Dinner | Lemon chicken + boiled rice | 550 |
| Drinks | Various beverages | 50 |
| Total Calories | 1,325 | |
Sylvia said,
8 May 2008 at 11:11 am
I agree about the difficulties in turning down a free breakfast – I hadn’t really thought about that but with two weeks of hotel living coming up, that’s going to be rather difficult!
Becky said,
8 May 2008 at 7:45 pm
I’m the same in hotels. I eat WAY too much. Sometimes I even choose stuff that I don’t particularly like, just because it’s available. Why does one slice of hotel-buffet toast never feel as filling as my own home-made toast?
I think I also get into panic mode when on holiday. Sub-consciously I worry that if I don’t have a substantial meal at every meal, I may go hungry. I have no idea where this comes from.
My mother has some fantastic stories about (disgusting) experiences at buffets. I should try and think of those when choosing the scrambled egg and bacon at the Holiday Inn.
Anna said,
8 May 2008 at 8:36 pm
I think being away generally makes dieting difficult because of the lack of control over what’s available to eat.
When I’m doing stuff for work in a hotel and all the meals are free (especially if we go out to a nice restaurant), I find it harder to control myself! Last time I had 3 days in a hotel, my weight increased by 2 lbs although it also coincided with my period, so it probably wasn’t just me pigging out!
There’s a part of me that is fascinated by Becky’s hints of something nasty with buffets and the other part is repelled and doesn’t want to know! :-)