Happy St. Patrick's Day

Deborah says:
Finally – a holiday that doesn’t involve an overloaded buffet table, with your great aunt Blanche bringing her 5000 calorie baked yams covered in marshmallows and caramelized sugar, with candied pecans.

St Patrick’s Day is a drinking holiday. Green beer! No calories in beverages, right? And no calories in the wings and burgers and fries you eat after you’ve had three or four beers, right?
Intentions, people, intentions. There are a couple of problems here, though. My intentions when I go to the bar are to have a glass of wine, a burger and a salad. I make it fit in my day, I may be high in my fat grams, but I also make sure I swim it off the next day (figuratively, not literally). The problem? Well, that one glass of wine turns into two glasses, and by the time I have two glasses of wine (I’m a cheap drunk) I’m ordering anything deep fried. That problem is that takes my caloric intake (Weight Watcher points in my universe) from about 30 for that meal to almost 60 by the time I’m done (or higher if I then switch to Cosmos). Not only have I ingested 100% more calories and fat than I intended, but (for me) I’ve awoken that part of my brain again too – and for me, that’s the killer. It’s why I don’t eat potato chips. It’s because after I eat them (or yummy salty deep fried food) I think about them. A lot. And I try and rationalize how to fit them into my regular diet, and that it’s okay to cheat once in a while, and that it’s really about the 80/20 rule, right? (which soon becomes the 50/50 rule or worse). My body doesn’t betray me, I know I can eventually burn things off and lose weight but my brain will betray me.
So what do you do? Not go out? Hell no! You have to have fun – you’re trying to get a life back, not sit at home like a skinny nun. But you have to make a plan. My plan this year, knowing my behavior, is to go in and order dinner when I order my first drink. I’ll ask them to hold it if we’re going to be sitting for a while, but at least I’m making my decision before the wine clouds my judgment (I don’t drink beer by the way – even when it’s green). And if I sneak a fry or two off someone’s plate, way less damage than an entire side of fries on mine.

The real secret? Insight. Be honest with yourself about how you behave in these kind of situations. After that, it’s much easier to Stop Lying, make a plan that works for you and stick to it.

So what are you going to do for St. Patrick’s Day? Or even the next time you’re just out at the pub with some friends?

Arlene says:
I love St. Patrick’s Day. I hope to go to a bar that is playing Celtic music and the crowd is lively and everyone’s friendly. I wear my highly appropriate head band with the four leaf clovers on springs and fit right in.

Our usual approach to keep us safe from overeating bar food is to have supper at home first. When St. Patty’s is a week night that is easier. We have a quick stir fry at home and then head off with happy tummies and plan to limit to two Kilkenny’s or Guinness because it is a work day tomorrow. This year it’s a Saturday?! Perfect for the … let’s get there early, grab a good table, and order nachos or wings … then the boxty perhaps or the puff pastry topped irish stew or the burger and fries…. Hmmm, could be a problem.

My plan, yep I have to have a plan, is to be the driver, so max two beers again and that’s assuming we are there for four hours (okay I know that’s true). I make sure I order water after each beer and nurse that. No pop, if I don’t drink I order ginger ale, but if I’m drinking I don’t want the extra sugar from pop, so good ole H2O it is. My sweetie isn’t an appy guy, I’m usually the culprit so we will order one appy to share and it will likely be a slightly healthy veggie dip or perhaps a calamari (as long as it isn’t deep fried). We will nurse that a while and then order making sure the sides are vegetables, salad or soup – no fries. The final part of the plan, to keep the focus on fun and music rather than food and drink, is to dance! The best thing about Irish music is you can do anything to it! You don’t even need beer to do River Dancing. So go out, have fun and make a great plan!