Party Party Party!

Whew. I am tired. Yesterday was a friend's birthday party and I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself.I had a great time at Yetty's party and I did indulge in a lot of liquid calories, but I definitely kept a handle on the food. She had all my favorites, including barbeque ribs, empanadias, pasta with homemade meat sauce, chips and dip, macaroni and cheese (prepared by me), fried chicken wings, and of course, red velvet cake. For dinner, I had a few bites of them all. Here's what I had:

2 chicken wings
1 rib
1empanadia
1 bite of macaroni and cheese (I had to taste it before I took it over!)
1 bite of pasta (about 4 penne noodles and a tablespoon of sauce)
1 slice of red velvet cake with frosting

Okay, so I guess when I put it all in a list like that it seems like a "helluva" lot more than what I thought.. hmm.. I am still proud of myself though. I made a conscious effort to watch what I ate, eat on a small plate, and avoid that mindless grazing that can sometimes happen at a party. I also ate a small breakfast and a light lunch (think salad and grilled chicken) because I knew the possibility of increasing a lot of calories later would put me over my limit for the day. For me, this is definitely a Non-Scale Victory (NSV). Normally in situations like that I would give myself a free-for-all eating pass. I'd tell myself, "oh it doesn't matter, its just one night. I won't eat that much the next day."  The next day, I'd feel bad about it and just decide that I had already ruined my eating habits for the weekend, so might as well order a pizza or something else fatty. Not this time my friends, not this time! Alright, so now that I am all proud of myself...

I went overboard on the liquid calories. I had about 4 or 5 jello shots, 1 full glass of sangria, half a shot of Vodka, 1 rum and coke(zero) and 3-4 Cocolosos (thank Diddy for those..lol). I did not even bother to count these in calories. I know it was a lot and because I want to focus on my NSV regarding the food portion, I am not going to beat myself up about consuming so many calories from alcohol. I know that I only conquered half the battle really, but I am counting it as a win anyway. Go ME :)

In other news, I have been cooking up a storm today. I decided that I would try cooking a few meals and a few basic meats for the week. I find that the excuses I use during the week to eat out or eat junk food include not having time to cook, everything being frozen, or just don't have anything on hand. This week, I am trying a new approach. I prepared a chunky chicken soup, homemade pasta sauce with beef, ground turkey taco meat, 2 low-fat beef burgers, and my favorite, homemade ranch dressing! The ranch dressing was really a treat and I have to thank Erika, the author of a great site ( http://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/recipes/make-it-at-home-sexy-ranch-dressing/ ) for this recipe.

I'll report back this week with updates on how my food prep today panned out over the week. I also have a few updates with my workout schedule too. And oh yeah, its Restaurant Week in NYC. I really have to budget my calories this week! See you all soon :)