By Chinups_and_Cupcakes | March 23, 2015

So this past weekend, Goose and I decided to take a trip to Orlando. His aunt and uncle live just minutes away from Universal and asked us if we’d like to stay at their house while they were out of town. Originally, we said no because I was going to be on call for work (Yeah, on call for retail.) We both have annual passes to the parks and I decided that I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for work to most likely give me a big fat, “No, we don’t need you.” I pay monthly for this thing, I might as well put it to use, right?  We planned to leave friday night after Goose got off work. Thursday night, Scout, Goose’s dog, ran away. She’s done it before but she always comes back within an hour. This time that was not the case. Friday morning, he was convinced that she was gone for good. We were obviously going to spend the weekend searching for her instead of going to Orlando, because duh, who wouldn’t? Just before noon on Friday, Scout comes trotting up the driveway covered in mud. Apparently she had spent the night, playing in the pond next door and chasing the neighbors chickens. We were so relieved that she came back and that nothing terrible had happened to her. Since she had come back, we realized we could go to Orlando after all..

We ended up leaving around 5pm. It usually takes 1 ½ to 2 hours to get to Orlando from where we live, but since we left at rush hour on a Friday night, we didn’t get there till almost 8. We were both starving and decided we’d go to Senor Frogs for dinner. Personally, I can’t go to a place like that and not have a drink (Yard of Frog Punch). Like I told you in one of my previous posts, When I drink, I make bad food decisions. It’s like I lose control of what I eat. There’s no stopping me, especially when I’m hangry.

WHAT I DID: I ordered the nachos. They were delicious but ohhhh so bad for me. Friday was NOT a good macro day. I knew what I had done, but it was already eaten. There was no going back. There was no reason to beat myself up because there was nothing i could do to change it.

WHAT I SHOULD/ SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE: I shouldn’t have ordered the drink. I didn’t need it. If I hadn’t had the drink, I would have made a better choice while ordering my food. It was an emotional buy. It was a “party” atmosphere and I wanted to be part of it. Did it benefit me in any way? NO.

Saturday, we headed to the park around 10. We weren’t in any hurry considering we’ve both been there a hundred times. Mike realized that his pass had expired in February and that he’d need to get a new one. We got in the ticket line and MAN was it long! Luckily, we had the idea to get on the website on his phone to buy one and print it out at the will-call kiosk. Instead of waiting in a 45 minute ticket line, he got on the phone, got a new pass and printed it out within 5 minutes. (Sometimes, we’re so brilliant, we amaze ourselves…) By this time, we were both hungry AGAIN. We went to the Crescent Moon bakery. They serve breakfast and deli sandwiches, fruit cups, baked goods and most importantly coffee.

WHAT I DID: We ordered the ham, egg and cheese croissant but were told they had just run out. *sad face* We ordered the breakfast burrito instead which was egg, bacon, cheese and salsa in a tortilla. It was okay, but pretty heavy for a breakfast. I was feeling pretty guilty after that one and thought I had made yet another bad eating decision.

WHAT I SHOULD/ SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE: I should have gotten something i knew would be light, like the fruit cup or turkey sandwich. It was more of a split second decision where they didn’t have what I really wanted so I just blurted something else out. At least that way I wouldn’t have started the day out feeling like I had already ruined it.

We started in Islands of Adventure. I couldn’t bring myself to get on the Hulk just yet because, well, hello? Breakfast burrito? Yeah. So we walked. It was kind of nice just wandering for a change. We got to the Jurassic park section and Mike showed me a play area that he used to love when he was a kid. I had never seen it before. I feel like I was cheated… how did I never know about it? There were like caves with waterfalls, rope bridges and slides all over the place. It was awesome (It’s in the Pterodactyl section, in case you didn’t know about it either.) We made our way to Hogsmeade. Ahhhh the glorious Butterbeer. It’s so good. I wanted it. However, I knew that I didn’t need it. I took a lesson from the night before and passed on it. If you’ve never had the frozen butterbeer though, you have to try it. It really IS worth it. We finished walking Islands of Adventure and decided we’d head over to Universal. We could have rode the new train that connects the 2 Harry Potter sections (tried it in December, it’s REALLY neat) but I think we both felt we could use the extra little bit of exercise.

We got to Universal and chose to wait in line for Despicable Me, since neither of us had ever done that ride. It said it was an 85 minute wait but we didn’t mind, seeing as how we didn’t have any other plan. It was HOT out Saturday. The sun was intense. 2 guys came walking up with big cups of lemonade for their families that were waiting in line in front of us. It looked SO refreshing. As we weaved through the line, Goose noticed a drink cart that was serving Mikes Hard Lemonade. I don’t think I’ve had that since I turned 21, but it sounded perfect. We knew we had a while to wait so we each got one. It was just what I needed. The plus side was that since I was stuck in line, I didn’t have any food to binge on. LOL. The line only ended up being about 45 minutes long, so we chugged the last little bit. It was a pretty cute ride, but I realized I never saw the 2nd movie. We bounced around to a few different rides. The new Gringott’s Bank ride at Diagon Alley is even better than I could have ever imagined. We waited for that one about an hour and I think it was totally worth it.

By the time we got off, it was like 4pm. It was around that time that we were both so hungry we couldn’t think clearly enough about where to eat.

WHAT I DID: We went to the first place we saw and ordered burgers. It was pretty good, not fantastic, but I was so hangry that I didn’t care. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even chew half of it… I HAVE to have some kind of disorder. This behavior cannot be normal. I DID IT AGAIN. I ate something I shouldn’t have. I made a terrible decision. Clearly, I don’t think rationally when I’m hungry…

WHAT I SHOULD/ SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE: I shouldn’t have let myself get to the point of “bear mode”. If we had eaten before waiting in line for Gringott’s, I would have made a better decision. But hey, I didn’t eat the fries… that counts for something? Right? Oy, ERIN, will you EVER learn? (Unfortunately, that’s not the end of it… GAH)

After that, I was feeling pretty crappy. I was to the point of, “I’ve ruined the whole day, I might as well keep going…” All rationale just flew out the window. Luckily,  we had the strength to pass up the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cone, even though that store smelled AMAZING. I settled for a 90 calorie iced coffee. We sat on the curb in front of the Terminator ride for about an hour, waiting for the Mardi Gras parade to start. I love people watching. The parade started at 7:45 and only lasted about 20 minutes. We decided to call it a day and headed for the exit. We were almost out when the caramel apples caught my eye. YEP. Gotta have one of those…

DOH!

We got to the car around 8:30 and were… kind of hungry. Don’t act so surprised. You know you saw it coming. Maybe we have tapeworms? I wanted a salad. I wanted a big cold refreshing bowl of lettuce. I remembered ordering a really good salad at Hash House a Go-Go. It’s a restaurant off I-drive with incredible farm food. (YOU MUST TRY IT!!!) Usually we go there for breakfast but we decided that’s where we’d do dinner. When we go there for breakfast, I get the chicken and waffles. I never quite understood that, UNTIL I TRIED IT. I’m pretty sure an angel or God himself came up with that combination because it is heaven on earth! So good. With that being said, I was aware of how great their fried chicken was.

WHAT I DID: I saw a salad on the menu that came with a piece of chicken on it. “Perfect!” I thought, I can have a salad annnd the chicken, so I ordered it. This is what came out…

It was like a piece of chicken the size of my face on top of 4 little shreds of lettuce. HARDLY a salad. Oh well, atleast the chicken was good! I ate all the lettuce and half the chicken. I boxed the other half up. We went back to the house where I demolished the caramel apple before passing out on the couch while watching Death Row Stories on Netflix. (What a life, right?)

WHAT I SHOULD/ SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE: I shouldn’t have eaten any more food!!! I wasn’t starving. I would have been perfectly fine with a nice little side salad. I ALSO could have just saved the caramel apple for another time instead of eating the whole thing.

I woke up Sunday morning, feeling pretty fluffy. “What on earth have I done to myself?” I knew it wasn’t over. I knew we were going to Christo’s for breakfast and I had heard all about the french toast. Obviously, I ordered it. It was good, but is there even such thing as bad french toast? I think not. We got back to the house to pack our stuff up and I remembered my chicken in the fridge. I am NOT one for throwing away food, clearly, so I ate it. It was just as good as a left over. We got in the car, hit the outlet mall and then headed home. “No more food for Erin today,” I said.  OH just kidding, My dad was making T-bones. Twist my arm.

I messed up this weekend. When I talk about binge mode, this weekend is  perfect example of that for me. I think that’s pretty clear. SO, what is the lesson here?

I can do one of 2 things. I can let this past weekend throw me off track. I can spend my time feeling guilty about it. I can just keep eating off my “diet” and dig myself deeper into a hole. Where would that get me? I’d just end up feeling more and more crappy. If you were climbing a ladder and you were halfway up when something got in your way, would you climb all the way down OR would you wait for the obstacle to pass and keep moving forward. I’d choose the latter. HA. See what I did there?

Option 2 is to keep moving forward. I know that I made bad choices, but I did have A LOT of fun. I enjoyed myself. After every meal, Goose and I would try to rationalize what we had just consumed, but there’s really no need for that. The deed is done. It doesn’t matter if it fit your macros or not, you’ve ALREADY eaten it. On a side note, most of the restaurants at Universal serve like 3 items. I don’t think that there’s any reason they shouldn’t be able to ATLEAST list the amount of calories in each meal, like Starbucks does. I don’t go to Starbucks a lot but when I do, I really appreciate that they tell you what is in each drink because it makes it you think. If I had seen 1500 calories listed next to the burger, I probably wouldn’t have ordered it. Universal allows you to bring small snacks into the park. You can’t have coolers, but you can bring a soft sided lunch box smaller than 8.5X6X6. The website also says you can bring food in for “special dietary needs” as long as it doesn’t have to be heated. Tuna, anyone? Not only would bringing your own snacks be a healthier option, but it would also save A LOT of $$$. Next time, I’m DEFINITELY doing this.

I woke up this morning ready to burn off all the excess I ate this weekend. I jumped on my treadmill and did an hour of cardio. I figure if I can do that every morning this week, I should be able to break even from this past weekend. I’m heading to the gym tonight to do chest and tri’s. It’s going to be OKAY. It’s ALWAYS fixable. It’s never too late for you to put down the fried chicken. The pleasure of that will only last a few minutes. The pleasure of good choices and feeling healthy is not only greater, but also lasts alot longer. You never regret a good choice. Don’t keep digging a deeper hole for yourself like I did this weekend, they’re harder to get out of. Take control right now, it’s not too late. When you hit a bump in the road, don’t let it stop you; just keep going.

Until next time…