Chinese Food... It's A Problem

I love Chinese food.  Like, I really, really love Chinese food. I've been known to go to lunch at Pacific Kitchen in Springfield 5 times in a week.  They know my order.  I don't have to tell them.  I get the Sweet and Sour daily special with an extra egg roll.

Food Porn

My boss picked up my lunch one day, and when he gave them my order, they said, "Oh, I know who this is for.  Tell Chris hi!"  (Part of them knowing me is that I will talk to everyone, and everyone is my friend.) So, if I look back on it, I realize that in the work week alone I spent almost 30 bucks!

I have a problem. As in I would eat the lunch Jenn packed me, and THEN I would go get Chinese food. The thought of not being able to eat this really made me sad.  I know some of you do not understand that feeling, but when you have a food addiction, the thought of not eating all the favorite foods anymore truly make you sad.  I got depressed.  I was okay with not getting Wendy's or Taco Bell (BTW, the new breakfast bacon crunch wraps are amazing... I mean gross) or all my other haunts. Just the thought of giving up my sweet and sour was almost too much for me to handle.

When I tried and failed at eating healthy before, I would start the week out right. Come Wednesday, I would justify buying just one egg roll at lunch, because I had already done so well that week.  Then the next day, I would buy the lunch, and Friday, I would get the extra egg roll and some extra rice... because I already fell off the wagon.

So what am I to do? How do I take my weakness and make it into a strength? I BET YOU WANT TO KNOW!  Other times I would take a free day on Saturday.  I would then hit up a Chinese buffet and CRUSH IT.  You better believe I can put some hurt on a buffet. I would continue to eat like that the whole weekend.

Me going into a buffet

Afterwards, I feel terrible every time. While I am eating, I'm happy. But right after, I am in pain.

Leaving the buffet

So I figured out what I am going to do. I posted the other day that if I lose any weight that week when I weigh in on Monday, I can add 1000 calories to one of my meals, a total of 1400.  My friend Raymond from CFR gave me that tip, and it has helped him a lot. When he told me, I thought it was a great idea, and that I was going to do that.  Later that night as I was thinking on it, I realized I could have Chinese food again once a week!

I got so excited.  At work that next day, I kept telling everyone about PK Monday.  I would just turn to my boss and say, "Guess what? I get PK on Monday."  I think he got sick of it after the 7th time I told him.

So I weighed in on Monday, and I had lost 9 pounds for the week.  I didn't run off to get my fix right away.  I didn't weigh in until after work.  I didn't want to slam my dinner and then go workout, so I put it off until Tuesday.

I got my trusty app, MyFitnessPal, and figured out that if I didn't get the wontons that come in the meal and only eat the one egg roll, it would be about 1000 calories.  I was going to be 400 short.  I was happy with that.  I threw off the girls at the counter by not ordering the extra stuff and by asking the wontons to be left off. I destroyed the lunch.  I ate it way too fast.  Next time I will take my time.

It was the best PK I ever had.  Do you know why it was so good?  It was because I earned it.  I was good throughout the week and to me it tasted that much better. I wasn't uncomfortable after I ate it because it was a "normal" sized portion.  My stomach didn't know what to do with it, though.  When I got back to work, it started rumbling.  After eating clean and healthy for a week, it didn't like it.

I can still love my Chinese food, but if I eat it sparingly, it will taste that much better to me. And I am still within my calorie allotment for that day, too. I got on the scale the next morning, worried that I ruined everything, and I found that I was down another 2 pounds.

What I feel like I can take away from this is we need to find a balance in life. I go from one extreme to another, but when I lose the weight, I can balance the foods I enjoy with the healthy stuff.

Cake is a sometimes food