consumption, continued

restaurant redux
[the alliteration: so cheap, so easy! i just can’t stop.]

thank you all for your restaurant-eating tips on monday’s post. it sounds like many have similar struggles and i am not the only one who gets restauranted out. a recap of the very smart suggestions:

■ ask to have your dishes prepared with less oil/butter/salt
i think this is a great idea for casual places, but sometimes i feel bad messing with the chef’s ‘vision’ at nice ones. then again, he probably didn’t envision me going home feeling terrible, either.

■ if it’s an infrequent splurge, just enjoy it as one of the benefits of an active lifestyle.
i definitely do enjoy it while it is happening, and i agree there have really be no lasting effects from my splurges, probably thanks to running and a decent metabolism. but i’d still love to be able to go home feeling sprightly and satisfied, rather than stuffed to the gills and dehydrated.

■ split entrees or portion in half before starting to eat.
ha, josh and i splitting an entree? not in this lifetime, unless we’re at some chain place with ridiculous servings. but the latter tip could be useful.

■ avoid desserts
nooooooooo! okay, fine — you’re right. when restaurant outings are frequent (such as on vacation), this is necessary. but for meals out once/week or less, i personally really do not want to give up desserts altogether. life is too short!

■ watch the alcohol
i’m better about this than i used to be! typically, i just stick to one glass of wine these days. even then, i still often wake up wanting to down the entire orange county reservoir — obviously i need to work on drinking more water while i eat as well.

■ avoid sauces, and order fish
i often order fish because it’s interesting and not something i make at home a lot. or seafood — shrimp and scallops are my favorite! unfortunately, i also love me some sauce. maybe i could just ask to go light on it?

i still want to enjoy myself when going out, but in efforts to prevent the “uughghghgh” post-restaurant distress sydrome (PRDS?), i’d like to work on eating most slowly (and mindfully!) when dining out as well as incorporating some of these suggestions. thank you all for your wise words.

stimulating the economy, part 2
yesterday i rewarded myself for obtaining ACLS certification by going to the mall. actually, i just had a $10 gap gift card that expired on april 30th, along with a $15 coupon on any $60 purchase. who i am to turn down free money?

so to the gap i went. i haven’t found all that much there in recent years, but there were actually some cute things there yesterday. i know these purchases aren’t super exciting, but i know that i think it’s fun to see what others bought when they talk about shopping. i was in practical-summer-wardrobe-expansion mode and bought:
a dusty pink cardigan to wear over a dress i already have for an upcoming wedding. see, i’m reusing a dress. that’s frugal, right?

tank tops x 3 (i heart stripes)

and (drumroll, please . . . ) SHORTS. i don’t think i’ve bought shorts (other than the running kind) for about a decade, because i don’t usually like how they look on me, and yes i am THAT VAIN. however, i decided to just suck it up, because spending a southern summer in jeans is just silly.

plus, i didn’t think these looked so terrible. i like the buttons at the bottom. as usual, i was between sizes, but opted for the bigger one despite extra room in the waist because they might shrink and i wanted room to move around in them.

mindful in may?
as i’m always working on it, i appreciated this zen habits post on mindfulness. i think i will focus on this for the month of may . . . more on that later!

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4.29.09

workout: 45 minutes elliptical + 25 minutes yoga (a routine from women’s running magazine, plus some of my own poses/stretches).

reading: 45 minutes on hypertension. we have a very interesting case right now that i’m trying to figure out! i wanted it to be 17-hydroxylase deficient congenital adrenal hyperplasia, but the renin/aldosterone levels just don’t fit. darn.

flossing/biting: going strong.