UPDATED - Help!! Give Me Strength... I'm going away this weekend with the family..... thats mean FOOD and lots of it....

if you go to a buffet take the smallest plate possible and nothing fried

we in doubt order a salad and keep in your mind that bathing suit

Good luck.

Just remember - it's only food and it'll be gone as soon as you swallow! Is that moment of satisfaction worth the guilt? Pick a few things that you really want and eat small portions. Then, brush your teeth or chew some gum (food always taste weird when you have minty-fresh breath!)
You can do it!

OK. Don't deprive yourself. That's the first rule because after 1 day you might be even more tempted to overeat. Just make WISE CHOICES. I think of it this way. If I go out to eat, I'll have the garden salad rather than the buffalo wings as a appetizer. Or French ONion soup over the creamy potato soup. If I want dessert, I'll have 1 scoop of ice cream or sorbet over a slice of cheesecake. That way I'm not feeling deprived yet I'm not going nuts. It's about eating good over eating crap.

Keep a food journal. Even if you don't do WW do a journal anyway. And write EVERYTHING you eat and how much of it (if you can eyeball the measurement) It's easier to stop eating crap once you see it written down.

Bring lots of gum or hard candy. IF you are on WW, buy a few packs of the fruit chews. The lemon ones are good. Suck on them don't chew, if you have fillings. Mine came out a few months ago becuase of those ****ers. They're really chewey but if you just **** on them they're OK.

Remember...salsa is good. Dip is bad. Well not bad but not great. Veggies and salsa. Very good. Load up on veggies if you can. Choose healthier things to eat. Don't deprive yourself but you can make wise choices. Poached salmon with mango salsa is better than a breaded and fried fillet. (these are examples obviously if you hate salmon dont' eat it!) Anything grilled, broiled, poached is normally better than fried. When in doubt, ask how the food is prepared. Ask them to do it in a healthier way if they normally fry it. If you don't want to deprive yourself of dessert, then choose wisely. One scoop of ice cream is better than the whole ice cream sunday. Your brain still thinks 'ice cream' no matter what size it is or how much you're eating. And your tummy and taste buds will be satisfied. Same goes for cake or pies. Split it with someone. Have two bites of a decadant cake/pie and the other person can have the rest.

If you can, exercise. Walk alot. Even if it's more leisurely walking, it's still something.

If your family thinks you should 'indulge' this weekend, tell them that while you know they have your best interests at heart, it will be twice as hard losing the weight you might gain this weekend. If you lose any weight - great!! But if you maintain your weight - that is good too!!! It's not going to be a 'normal' weekend so don't hold yourself to any stringent expectations. But if you eat alot of veggies and drink alot of water (if you go out to a bar drink a white wine spritzer or club soda) and fill up on the good stuff, you won't have room for the bad stuff. =)

But like I said don't deprive yourself and only have salads all weekend. Eat, just don't eat the crap =)

Good luck - let us know how it went.

I like salads...so its not a prob to order them...and I don't really like dressing so that makes it better...


but I like to indulge at breakfast...so I pick and chose what I indulge in...