Struggles While Succeeding

Everyone struggles with something while they are attempting to reach a goal of any kind. There are always hurdles and boulders in the way that you must pass through if you want to continue your path to success. How do you cope with those struggles? What methods do you have to push though and continue without being defeated?

My biggest struggle is eating when I'm away from home. I love to cook. I prefer to eat at home because the best tasting meals to me are the ones I poured my abilities into. Especially when it's a great healthy meal that everyone loves and doesn't realize it was actually good for them too! However, you can't avoid the invitations to friends' homes or dinners out. We have become pros at eating at restaurants. We don't eat out often at restaurants because it's expensive but when we do go out we always choose sushi. We have a great all you can eat place near our home that is very decently priced. We know that we can go there and eat until we are more than content but it's not a high calorie or high fat meal.

You aren't always in control of where you go out to eat. Let's face it - not every one is a sushi lover. I always try to suggest places that have the nutrition facts available on their website. It's really the safest route if you are able to prepare ahead of time. I will look at the nutrition facts online and then choose what I'm going to have. Then I don't even have to look at the menu at the restaurant and be tempted. In the worst case scenario, when a restaurant doesn't post their nutritional information, I review the menu at home if I can and then when I get to the restaurant, I may sure that I don't order any alcoholic drink before I order. Honestly. If I'm looking at the menu while sipping on a glass of wine, my strength in willpower towards food weakens almost immediately and I make poor food decisions.

The problem lies when we are invited to a friends' home for dinner. Most of the people I know understand where I am in my weight loss journey and they will usually accommodate, not that I need special accommodation, that's the great thing about Weight Watchers, but I think knowing that I'm more conscious about what I eat might make them conscious, even if for that one evening. There are other times though when someone might not take into consideration healthy eating habits and I have to use massive amounts of self-control. One bacon wrapped weeny isn't going to make someone obese, but when I can easily eat the entire pan...that's a different story. They are just so good!

I deal with this struggle by simply asking the host of the dinner what they plan on having and if I can bring something to add. I rely heavily on mental preparation. If I can tell myself over and over in my head, "O.K., tonight there will be [insert weakness here] at this dinner party. Have one to satisfy my craving and that is all I need" It really works. I will also dramatize the food product in my head, thinking maybe they used the extra fat bacon to wrap those weenies in. Sounds silly, but I do and it's proven to work for me.

I'm lucky in that I am not an emotional eater. I would categorize myself more as a "social eater", if there is such thing. How do you deal with emotional eating if you are an emotional eater? What other down falls does one have and what remedies help?