Date Night

Tonight was date night, so we chose a nice restaurant within walking distance. Although these evenings generally last two hours or less, they feel luxuriously lengthy. No rushing, no kiddie and adult conversations to co-ordinate.

We went to a local restaurant and once we had our drinks, asked the waiter to slow down the meal. Although I was hungry, I prefered to stretch out the experience. Soft, white flour rolls were placed on our bread plates, but to me, a bread without a crunchy crust isn't worth it's flour, so I let it sit there and consoled myself in one enormous glass of red wine.

A steak knife arrived that looked better suited to self-defense in the African tundra, and I noticed that the fork would have been just the right size for Kareem Abdul Jabar. When the entrees finally arrived, my husband and I both chose our salad forks to do the honors.

Fortunately, because we were sharing entrees, our attentive waiter brought us two salad plates and let us serve from the dinner plates as if they really were what they appeared to be: serving platters.

A quick glance at the menu when we ordered revealed that we were in a protein lovers paradise. Not a vegetarian entree in sight. So we special ordered the one vegetable dish the chef could make. It was quite tasty (all except the fried yuca, which made tofu seem like a flavor sensation), but certainly not vegetarian as it sported a pork jus.

Mind you, we are not vegetarian, as you will soon see. We just like our veggies, a lot. The other entree was a lamb shank, also Kareem sized, and tasty as well. We left lamb behind, and a little rice but not a single veggy.

Back home, as the family cereal ritual began, my stomach reminded me that veggies don't keep it busy very long, and I happily joined in with my own little bowl, and the remains of my son's, not to mention of a couple of bites of his abandoned crepe with way too much honey.

I could have eaten more at the restaurant, but I like to give my stomach a chance to notify my brain of it's status. So I reason that I can always eat something later if I want, and I often do. This may seem an unneccesisarily complicated routine, but it's become a sort of game to finesse the amount of food that will allow me to sleep well, give me enough energy for my morning workout, but not feel uncomfortable, or, god forbid, make my pants tight.

The day started with 50 minutes on the elliptical, my oatmeal breakfast and decaf capp. Lunch was a Peasant Pie (fritata) and soup, and snack was, guess what, a Zen bakery raisin bun with a bit of goat's milk brie (we're out of string cheese, so I had to go gourmet).

I do seem to eat the same things, over and over again, in spite of the dizzying variety of foods available. It must leave more room for adventure in other areas of my life...

PS Monday's Lighten Up call discusses my 10 rules to fight Childhood Obesity. Join us-there will be a few tips for big kids too. Register at my site http://www.mindforbody.com.