No Foolin Here...

Ladies & gentlemen (wait, do I have any guy readers??? lol), I have no time for the pranks of April Fools today... so I swear everything you are about to read is the honest to goodness truth... fortunate or unfortunate as it may be.

Remember the dinner I was going to try not to eat too much of last night? Here's my plate...

Let's just say that my plan to eat a small meal went a bit awry. I had one small spoonful of the casserole after this. Hopefully the fact that I substituted a banana for the bread & butter that everyone else ate with their meal counts for something.

And about that chicken I was looking so forward to at the casino... I ordered it, they cooked it fresh and I was excited to sit down with it - 7 "flamin' wings" - at the only remaining table in the cafe area. *Insert here that I attempted to take a pic of them, but the 300+ pound security guy that came to yell at me for using a camera in the casino was less than helpful.* The first bite, of the first wing, was luscious - spicy with just the right amount of heat - and juicy. The first three were fairly tasty. On wing #4 the trouble began. There was such a thick layer of fat between the skin & the meat that I could NOT force myself to take a second bite. Wings #5 & #6 same story! Gross, disgusting, wretched nastiness! By wing #7 I gave up & was literally picking the flavored coating off the last piece - being careful not to get any of the nasty skin. And if that wasn't bad enough, when I got up and started walking around the casino, I had the WORST stomach ache I've had in ages. Lesson learned - NO MORE WINGS AT THE CASINO!!!

And while we're on the subject of the casino. I FAILED to make my regular donation! That's right, I actually left the building with more money than I took. Not a lot more - but a little - plus I bought food there. This is one time when it felt pretty darn good to fail, lol.

As I type, I am waiting for the rest of the family to assemble themselves so we can head off to dinner - at the freakin BUFFET! Honestly, I swear I will be lucky not to undo all of last weeks progress & then some at this rate. The good news is I knew what was going on for dinner ahead of time, so I had this for breakfast...

One grapefruit with 1/2 whole wheat bagel & a scant 1 tablespoon of reduced-fat peanut butter. 310 calories... and way satisfying. Plus, I've eaten a small portion of the leftover casserole from last night, which is actually pretty low calorie other than the rice since she used 96% lean ground beef, so I won't be famished when we get to the buffet (that's if we get to go sometime before now & next year).

We spent the afternoon visiting some local antique stores... and I've got to tell ya I never knew before today that its possible to pile on the calories while shopping for things older than dirt. Every store we went to had out trays of cookies and/or candy - free for their "valued" customers. Its embarrassing to report - but I had four huge malted milk balls (they were the best I've ever tasted) and five freakin cookies (not even homemade yummy cookies, but store bought sandwich cookies). Even more embarrassing that was pretty much what ended up being for lunch too! Ugh, I can't remember when the last time was I had that much sugar in a single day, much less an afternoon.

Even after all of that, I'm looking forward to the buffet tonight. I will follow my rules & it will be fine. They have awesome food & I know in advance what is worth using calories for. And the best part, I can steer clear of anything known as "beef." I swear its like I've had a "cow relapse" or something - going from eating beef maybe once a week to having had it (omg, wait while I try to count here) four times in a 48 hour period. The Husband has been "dying" for a good steak... I think his wait just got extended by a nice long period of time. Maybe that will be his farewell dinner before he goes on deployment, lol.

One "yay me" event of this trip: I have not had a single chip the whole time! Normally not a big achievement because I don't eat chips that often. But, they are everwhere here. The Husband ate them on the way here, they have bags sitting on top of the fridge beckoning, they pull them out at lunch or for snacks in the afternoon... and though they are right there mere inches from my fingers (and my nose) I do not reach for them. I am strong. I will not bend on this... small & insignificant as it may be. Now those addictively tasty pepper jack cheese sticks in the fridge are an entirely different ball of wax - or should I say artery hardening dairy product?!?

I'm gonna try to catch up on some blogs while these SLOW people are finishing getting ready, lol. I'll be back later with my April lifestyle goals & to take care of an award I received... hopefully tonight.

What surprising places have you found mounds of goodies free for the purpose of widening your arse? I must know so I can avoid them in the future, lol!