Dining Out - Exposed!

I was disturbed the other night. I went to Applebee's and there, splattered across the new menus - calorie counts. My dining out experience has been ruined.

Now, don't get me wrong. This may be a good thing because maybe, just maybe, I'll look at the calories and see that I should be eating healthier, rather than heartier meals. But it also tends to just make me feel bad.

I'm not gonna lie. I've had the Applebee's Sampler as a meal and it's been delicious, but do you know that that costs me more than a days worth of calories?! I never ordered it with the intention of being healthy at that particular meal, but I was happy then.

I've never been one to count calories - I just try to take things in moderation. I'm not really sure where this calorie counting will get me (I think I need to partner it with going to the gym again), but maybe I can learn to live with this. And then my dining out experience won't be so bad and I'll learn to eat healthier when not eating a home cooked meal? Or maybe the opposite will occur - I won't care and I'll just go about my daily eating habits - taking in what I want in moderation. Or a combo of both? Only time will tell…

Ordering vs. the Brown Bag

It never fails. I cannot bring myself to make lunch. The truth is that I usually don't have time in the morning. So the logical response is that I'd make it the night before, but I don't want to do that either. And even on days when I have a little extra time in the morning, I'll either eat breakfast or just go straight to work, thinking I'll just order today.

Clearly this is a problematic disease. And I know I’m not the only one with this problem. Dawn said that she was going to start bringing lunch as her New Year's Resolution but has also had the same problem of buying lunch a lot like me. I also hear the endless calls from the front desk each day from a variety of different deliveries.

Think about it. What's usually for lunch if you brown bag it? A sandwich? A salad? Some leftovers? I'm honestly not that thrilled with these things. I like a good sandwich but the sandwiches I'll make are only good every so often and who wants to eat the same thing every single day?! Even sometimes when I bring my lunch to work I can be persuaded by the Crew to order something that is far more appealing than last night's dinner, AGAIN!

Lunch is an extremely booming business if you think about it. People need to eat it every day. Sometimes lunch is the first meal of the day for people who either get up late or skip breakfast because they think they'll lose weight that way (I've learned that this is not true). I know that I'd save a ton of money if I didn't buy lunch all the time but I just can't help it.

I've gotta eat every day - I really just love food. But how can I make a better and more appealing lunch so that I can leave more money in the bank?! The world may never know…

Photo: HeavensLittleStuff.com