Budget For My Belly

Will eating cheap equal eating less food and less calories? I don't know, but we are planning to test that theory very shortly. James and I are counting the days and hours until our vacation commences next weekend, and my husband has been working very hard to plan out our many days on the road. We have all our hotel reservations made (one of them, above), James signed us up for a show one evening, we are going to a zoo, several museums, a birthday party, even a hall of fame. All sorts of fun stuff that you will see over on my other blog eventually.

And as I've blogged about before, one of my biggest challenges in trying to lose weight is eating out. I usually eat as though I will never ever get a chance to enjoy that menu ever again- even if it's a local pizza place. I have trouble treating the experience as quality time spent with the man I love, and instead act like I am auditioning for a spot on the competitive eating circuit. And on vacation, James and I have a tendency to be even more relaxed with our dining out practices. But we are going to try to set rules for this trip.

James and I know we have to eat out all our meals the entire time, but we are going to try to keep a tight food budget this trip. That's something we've never really done before, but we realized the other day that sometimes- okay, a lot of times- we overspend and overeat. Not sure if the two go hand in hand or not. For instance, this past Saturday at the Hard Rock, we both ordered burgers with fries- before the tip it was almost $40. A recent Sunday lunch at Red Lobster ran us almost $50. And while that's okay for an occasional splurge, we don't want to spend $100 a day on food, especially because we will be gone for nine days.

All but one of the hotels we're staying at have complimentary continental breakfasts, so we are going to save money by starting off our days with a free meal. I just have to remind myself that it's unlikely there will be a sudden bagel and cream cheese shortage any time soon- in other words, there is no need for me to indulge in one of my favorite breakfast "treats" every single morning, which is what I always get on vacation. Most hotels offer much healthier alternatives like yogurt, fresh fruits, whole grain toast, skim milk and cereal. There are many other choices for me to make besides doughnuts or danishes.

We are going to try to eat light lunches- no $25 shrimp lover's feast platters or $15 blue cheese burgers with endless onion rings. Yet we don't want to waste our taste buds- and feed our fat cells- by only sticking to the 99 cent menus at the fast food places either. Since this trip will be a little more leisurely than some of our others, I think we will have more time to make wiser choices instead of being starved and saying "Oh thank the stars, I see a Cracker Barrel up ahead!" We do have one very indulgent dinner out planned here, a place I've been wanting to visit for a long time now, but other than that, I see no reason for us to treat the evening meal as a pig out fest.

I plan to bring plenty of bottled water and healthy snacks for the truck, too, because I have a tendency to run amuck in the convenience stores whenever we stop for gas or a bathroom break. I can't remember the last time I walked out of one without anything. Usually a Coke and bag of chips.

This is the first of three big vacations this year, and since right now I am so down about my weight, I want to do everything I can to keep moving in the right direction. I love James, but he knows that he needs to lose weight as much as I do, and I feel as though if we don't work as a team, we will never succeed individually. And there is no better time to depend on a teammate than a long vacation together!

Sandy