Eating clean away from home

We're visiting family this weekend, which means a deviation from my usual eating habits. I did bring some clean snacks with me, but not my usual home arsenal of chicken breast and loads of fresh veggies. In the past when we've gone to my parents' house, we seem to eat all.day.long. The table is always full of snacks like pretzels and M&Ms, and we munch things like crackers and cheese or chips and salsa between main meals--meals that could make the table groan with the extent of their offerings. We usually leave with leftovers, and what feels like an extra 6 pounds each. However, my parents are now training for a half-marathon, which is in our favor. When my mom runs, she is more aware of what she's eating. I knew it wouldn't be an easy-eating weekend, though!

Our first hurdle was a birthday party for my nephew (Happy #1, AQ!), which included appetizers, pizza, chocolate cake, and s'mores. Since I was full of veggie sandwich from lunch, I didn't snack much but did enjoy some watermelon and hummus with corn chips. For dinner, I filled half my plate with cantaloupe, a quarter with tomato-basil salad, and one blotted-off piece of pizza. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was very filling without being all that satisfying. I was hoping for more vegetable toppings, but bacon and pepperoni won out with the rest of the crowd. So, I ate my one piece. Then came the cake. I've said before that I will indulge in b-day goodies for family, so I requested one very small sliver (and was thrilled when my sis said it was from scratch with mostly whole-wheat flour!) and enjoyed each bite.

My moment of weakness arrived when the marshmallows came out, and I'm a little bummed that I gave in. The s'more I made used clean-eating cookies (the ones I made for ice cream sandwiches this week) instead of graham crackers, which was a small victory, but it was a little dry. And then I ate another marshmallow raw and toasted a third! That one was fun, but made my tooth hurt. I used to love a good roasty-toasty brown 'shmallow. Things can change!

What helped me feel like that day wasn't a total loss was my good start (Ezekiel toast with peanut butter and a banana before my run, 6 mile run followed by a protein shake, then a vegetarian sandwich on wheat for lunch) and drinking lots of water all day. The H and I had a cup of decaf with my youngest sister to wind down at the end of a very busy day, and I hope to get tomorrow off on the right foot with a bowl of steel-cut oats and fresh berries, plus some of the raw almonds I have in my purse. I brought my own, but my mom keeps some in the house now. See? Things can change. :)