Yeah, I used to work at a restaurant (dishwasher and busser) and we got a free meal every night from a list of the lower-priced meals. The problem was that all the standard meals I would have chosen were terrible for you....

I ended up working out some special orders that used the same ingredients from things we could get, but cut out the junk and prepared it in a healthy way. A grilled chicken breast and the veggie of the day with various different sauces and details.... or a bowl of soup, if they had anything that wasn't creamy. Sometimes a big salad or something. The management didn't like special orders in general because they got out of hand sometimes, but they were supportive when I explained my situation.

But yeah, working fast food is hard when you want to lose weight....

My brother works at Subway, though, so that's not quite as bad.

UPDATE FOR APRIL 5TH

I did it! Even tho i doubted myself when I said it, but I got my butt up and went and exercised. 25 minutes on the treadmill and I must say I am so proud of myself for running for a good 5minutes-6minutes, full out jogging. Broke out in a sweat like there's no tomorrow and it felt so energizing, instead of all that running making me tired it pumped me up. Put some good music to my ears and just worked it out hard. It is 9.40pm, quiet late but I can feel a craving coming on for sweets and junk. Oh do not worry child, I will fight it to the end, I wont fall for it but its sad coz I got no fruit in the house and I am thinking about getting into my car and go get some so i can nibble on a apple or grapefruit or something to calm my craving. I had lots of water today, it almost makes me gag when I drink it lol.

I've been feeling sad these past two days but I guess thats normal since I took away my addiction. My friend used to be food, it made me feel so good and happy but when the cravings have been pleased, I go into depression mode and I trash myself for failing once more. It's weird I almost feel like crying sometimes, it's really bad for me.

I havent stepped on the scale yet at all and I dont plan on it for at least another couple of days because I dont want to step on it and see no results and then discourage myself from this whole getting in shape plan.

i definately know how you feel about working at a food place. i used to work at a deli and during our shift we were able to pretty much eat or drink anything available in the entire store...from special sandwiches, pastas, different salads (pasta, potato, etc), chips, candy, cookies/biscottis, breads, pizza, gelato/italian ice. anything!! it was wonderful, yet horrible at the same time. i worked there when i first went on my diet and lost 27 lbs while still working there...i just had to learn to resist the bad stuff and learn to make healthy things. it was so difficult, yet so worth it. you can always pack some fruits/veggies to hold you over while you're there if water doesn't work, if you're able to bring your own stuff to eat. i tried the whole just drinking water my entire shift and towards the end i'd be starving, which is when i'm most tempted to cheat. but congrats on overcoming the temptation to eat fast food!! once you've done it once, you can do it again for sure!!

and don't feel sad...food can still be your friend...just healthy food!! and we're all more than willing to be your friend.

Thanks Shep


APRIL 6TH

10.17am

Woke up 40min ago, Im hungry I need to go eat breakfast but I'm scared to approach the kitchen. I am still learning to control myself when it comes to food so I am taking it slow this morning.
I will go and I will fish around for something healthy yet filling, I want to make sure I have a filling breakfast so this way I don't undereat today and then end up wanting to freakin attack my kitchen at night. I gotta call my flight agent so after I am done ALL THAT I will go and have a nice run on my treadmill and do some crunches and I am really thinking about getting one more work out equipment, maybe an elliptical machine would be so fun, I love those I used to use them A LOT back then when I used to be a member of a gym.

28 days till I leave for vacation.....ahhhh


4.07pm
Haven't exercised yet , but I will.
Went shopping with my mom, we stopped at a restaurant and I had a chicken breast on a 100% bun with ONLY a glass of ice water YAY and I did have a little sandwich before that too with Italien bread and some tuna paste, it was small but I still feel as if I shouldn't have had it and therefore I am done for the day Me and my mom are planning to go back to the grocery store and load up on fruits and veggies incase I get my horrible food attack tonight like I did last night.
When I come back I will jump on the treadmill and sweat it out as much as I can.

Whoopieeee

ewwww its 8pm almost and I just had to had some food because otherwise I know that I would have crashed later on and just eaten crap.
I think I underate today, so now I had about 3 slices of cucumber, italian bread and a small can of tuna pate. I know, I could have lived without the bread but :'( I love my bread and so I had a tiny bit. I am gonna go run soon...

You can do this.. you got it. I think one of our first triumphs is admitting our weaknesses and learning how to make better choices. If you have read my diary , I talk about self sabotage.. yuk! I decided that i will no longer do that. But I also realize that I am not perfect. We can't be so strick on ourselves that we feel completely deprived.. then come the crash and burn. So, don't feel bad about the bread. It wasn't the whole loaf..

I know how you feel about wanting to drop the 20 fast to kind of get you going and add a boost to this new found life. Im also going out of town, but im leaving next Friday! Yikes!!!! Its ok.. when I started really looking into my weight and how unhappy I was and this cycle that that is repeated over and over again, I was 199. My highest was 204 and I was 9 months pregnant.. now I just broke to 188 over the weekend and I am pleased with my progress. Im rootin for you hun! I will be happy if I can loose another 8 before I leave but in reality .. well it might not be reality ...


Id be carefule with the pate.. high salt in that stuff..

Good luck on your run. Im headed to the gym right now to do my run and weights too

hi STOF thanks for the comments on my diary, and I've been reading through yours. I worked in a restaurant for 3 years also.. and while I was there I lost about 45 pounds. I brought water with me.. and packed lots of good things to eat.. salads.. fruits.. anything healthy that I could stuff myself with so that there wasn't room for all the bad stuff lol. Don't worry about having fast food.. or bread or anything else you find yummy. You've made the choice to do things better and are making a huge effort by watching how much you eat. Its a HUGE difference to go from say 800 calories in bread to 100-200(just random numbers :P) I have been at this a few months now and am working mainly on portion control and not eating out like I used to, and working out again.. all the stuff your doing!

Keep up the good work, your doing great

I had to stop at your journal because I love the title and I love your name. I can definitely relate to it. It's exactly how I feel.

Great journaling so far, girl! You're doing so great with your exercise and food. OMG, I don't know if I could handle it if I worked at a fast food restaurant. They'd have to literally tear down a wall to get me out.

Thanks you guys^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You have no idea how much your words mean to me, it helps me out A LOT.


APRIL 7th (day 3) woohooo Im almost over the hump lol

this calls for


Alright moving on. I am still in bed and it is 10.25am, I woke up late but I had a sleepless night. I had fruit when it bacme late around 9pm, and it helped. When I went to bed around 1.30am (was watching a movie) I felt hungry, wth right? But I didnt give up, I forced myself to just lay there until I fell asleep.

I am now about go breakfast and I have no clue what to make but ill fish for something healthy and then I am off for some shopping. I am sad to say I did not exercise yesterday but hey I did in the last past two days in a row so maybe that was my break, today I will, I PROMISSE!!!!!!!!!
I still havent weighed myself so maybe today I will, I dont think I lost anything tho, or if I did it's a pound because I have a lot of water and toxins to lose before the fat.
I think the real results will start to show after 2 weeks.

2.05pm
Went to the mall with my mom had a nice haircut and style, and I brought my slimfast optima bar for emergency cravings but I didnt need it, after about 1.3 hours of walking around we decided to have subway for lunch since its healthy.
Had a 6" whole wheat tuna sub, with veggies a squirt of mayo and mustard and a bottle of water, and no I did not have their delicious cookies (yay for me). I am at home now, and for dinner we have decided to make spinach with light cream, chicken breast and a side of mashed potatos. But in about 10min I will be off to a good run and a good freakin sweat. Later tonight at 8pm I will be going to Detroit with a girlfriend of mine to go see Jay Leno, I really never watched him before but she invited me and I guess the tickets are free so ,WHY NOT! I will NOT eat anything tonight if they suggest going out getting some food. I will have my apple ready to start the battle. I havent weighed myself yet, I think Im really just not ready to just yet. Hopefully tomorrow

APRIL 8th

Confession #1: When I got back from the Jay leno show last night, I ate (a lot) I had more mashed potatos, half a chicken breast and some spinach, I felt full after and immediately I regreted it, but wtf? Where was my power and energy to say no? It's like it went for a walk and my addiction jumped at the opportunity, and to be honest I didnt even know what the hell I was doing while i was doing it, it just happend. So bad for me Oh and I did not exercise yesterday either, I could give you 199 excuses as to why not, but I won't , I didn't do it coz I got lazy!

************************************************** ****

Alright, let's jump back on the wagon and stop whining.
It's 10.10am and I'm not hungry , should I be eating?
Maybe I will make myself a whole wheat toast (one slice only) with some P&J and a glass of milk and an apple on the side.
Also I weighed myself. The very first time I weighed myself on BOTH my scales on one I was 280 on the other I was 271? *The 271 is old as hell and probably wrong as hell* and then I weighed myself on the 280 one and the number said 274lbs, so that would mean I lost 6lbs already? I donoooo if that is correct ( would love it to be) it is probably just water weight and the toxins that got flushed outta my system.

I know you aren't really counting calories, but if you know what you would need to eat to maintain your current weight, and you also know how many calories you are eating, you could see that the math is hard to argue with. It's not just water weight, hun.

About your late-night second dinner: it happens. The important thing is to try to be more conscious of your eating. I'd venture a guess that quite a few people on here struggle with some level of food addiction. One of the facets of addiction is that our logic and reasoning centers shut down when we are trying to get a fix. Then, when the deed is done, everything goes back to normal, and we're left wondering how it happened. It's an uphill battle, but it's one we can win if we are proactive about thinking things through carefully before letting ourselves eat. This is another reason for counting calories, I suppose: you are hesitant to eat anything before you know how it will impact your daily progress. It's not a perfect solution, but it could help.

Anyway, take that 6 pound loss and run with it. Whatever the weight is, you're probably doing something right as long as you're eating a balanced diet and drinking enough water.

A good thing about counting calories is being able to see exactly what your putting in your mouth. It has changed the way I grocery shop completely. It took a month or so to really get used to it and I am still noticing things I didn't before but its a great tool. It can keep you from going to low in your calories and hitting the brick wall I have spent the last month running into. You might even be able to raise your calories and still be cutting enough to lose 2lbs a week.

Well thank you that made me feel a little better knowing that I am not the only one who slipped, I am not a freak then I have tried to count calories before and yes it worked and it really keeps a person organized but I failed at it, in the past I personally felt that it kept me restricted it was like a ball hitting me in the face everday telling me "ok remeber, you are on a diet and you cant have this this this this and specially not THAT" lol I dont know if you catch my drift and I have nothing against calorie counting, I still do look at the calories I eat and the fat and carbs, I guess in a way I really am counting them Im just not writing it all down because I do carefully look at the calories of something I am about to buy or eat. Maybe it's just me trying to fool my brain in a way, Im trying a diff technique but the same way of doing it( counting calories) lol, I dont know if that makes much sense.


Thanks Solty I know it takes time to get used to the whole calorie counting thing, I am trying to NOT count them but at the same time COUNT them lol...I think I make more sense up there replying to Sakana. lolz I apologize if I am confusing a bunch of u hehe


STILL APRIL 8TH 1.15pm
I am having lunch, a 100% whole wheat tuna sandwich (I love tuna lol and yes I know its high in sodium so I do make sure I only have a little) with a layer of cucumbers, a squirt of mustard and squirt of mayo. Also on the side I have 4 slices of cucumber and 6 baby carrots. WOW and you guys dont know but I HATE CARROTS with my LIFE lol so this is a BIG UP for me....eating those should be interesting.

God, why wasn't I blessed to be a veggie lover lol

i'm not a big fan of carrots either, but i like other veggies a lot. my mom got some marzetti's dip for vegetables...i think it's like southern ranch (has a bit of a kick to it) and it makes the carrots a little bit more bearable for me. yet, i can eat any other veggie without any sort of dip or anything. it's weird.