I Married a Meatatarian

When Wendy's came out with their Meatatarian commericals, Jeff and I just died laughing. I finally had a name for what he is. Jeff is the epitome of a meat-and-potatoes guy. If he could eat nothing but bacon cheeseburgers and fries for the rest of his life he would be happy. Throw in the occasional chicken fried steak and he'd be in heaven. I like to joke that if it has flavor, Jeff won't like it.

But I have to say he's been very good about my decision to become a vegetarian. I already avoided most meat, simply because I don't like the taste. So when I finally made the call to cut out meat entirely, it wasn't much of a stretch for me. I miss the occasional salmon sushi or bacon with breakfast, but overall I'm pretty content. For Jeff this has been a bit more of a shift. Not cooking wise, since we've always made our own meals. But in our choice of restaurants. We no longer go out to Barbeque places, because there is nothing for me on the menu. Steakhouses are also no longer mentioned. He's been great about eating more asian and indian food with me where the choices are almost overwhelming. He's just been great about the whole thing, well other than the occasional bacon taunting.

I've been thinking about this because my brother and his family are coming in town this weekend so eating should get interesting. Red Robin and Cosi Cucina (a local italian place) are no problems for me. At Red Robin, I can get a Boca patty on any of their specialty burgers. Cosi has half a page of vegetarian options, all of which are really tasty. But one of their other favorite places is Famous Dave's; and I don't know of anything there that I can eat. I'm sure that I'll be able to find at least something that I can remove the chicken from. They supposedly have some decent salads. Jeff, of course, will be in heaven.

The big thing I'm trying to learn is to not be embarrased to ask them to take the chicken off or to prepare it differently. I've always been one of those people who hated to send a meal back or have it special ordered. I didn't want to be a bother or I didn't want the waitress to be upset. I'm not sure why I thought that would happen. I'm normally pretty polite. This stepping outside of my comfort zone might be good for me. And it will give Jeff a chance to get to some of his favorite restaurants again. After all, Jeff and I have been at opposite ends of the food spectrum for over a decade now and somehow we've survived.

Does this wine make me look fat?

Saturday was beautiful so we had gone out disc golfing. So before we went I tried on a pair of last years shorts. Well I almost tried them on. No zipping. Then I pulled out another pair, and another. Until I was practically reduced to tears sitting among five pairs of shorts that wouldn't fit. Not even my new capris (that I bought last year and wore twice) fit. So I decided, on Saturday that I would start being good about what I ate and try to limit my portions. Ah good intentions!

And on Sunday those feelings were re-enforced watching the women's triathlon. Those women were in great shape. I told myself, I would start running and then I would eventually be in that kind of shape. And then dinner came. And this past week dinner has been an extravaganza. On Sunday we found ourselves at Cosi Cucina, a standard whenever my brother comes to visit. On Monday we ate at Sam & Gabe's, a local restaurant that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. And both nights I had glasses of wine (a new passion) and full meals. But I was still trying to be good. At Cosi I had a pasta with vegetables in a chicken stock broth, and amazingly no bread. At Sam & Gabes I had a beautiful grilled Ahi with mango salsa and asperagus on the side.

So I was trying to be good. The portions were big but at least it was healthy, and I took home leftovers. And then yesterday happened. Somehow my brain decided that nutrition wasn't all that important. Arby's for lunch (and not the healthy choices) followed by Perkins for dinner and then ice cream at home.

So I rationalized that it was one bad day out of a couple. Then I remembered. Tonight I'll be going out for pizza and beer with girls from my former work. I know me. I'll drink too much and then eat too much. And then tomorrow my uncle is in town so we are taking him out to the holy grail of restaurants in my book, Trostel's Dish. A beautiful, elegant, and amazingly tasty tapas place that makes me practically swoon. Can you tell I like food? And this one will be a dieting disaster. Small portions sure but there will be many, and I mean many. Imagine wine (again!!) and 25 plates to try. Plus a cheese platter and dessert. I should easily wake up five pounds heavier.

And what makes this worse is that I'm trying to lose weight for this upcoming trip we are taking. Jeff and I are taking our first cruise in September. My goal was to at least be presentable in a swimsuit. I'd like to wear those shorts and capris that would work so well in the tropics. So I'll have to be good next week. My diet always seems to start tomorrow.