Back in the Swing of Spring

Lately I have been doing some exercising. I love to walk, and I’m trying very hard to learn how to run again without feeling awkward doing it. That may sound a little strange, but I used to run track and was good at it. However, I am sure that I will not be running relays in the near future. Anyway…
What I find after I am done with my choice of exercise for the day is that I am always starving. I am not exaggerating. I go to that place of hunger where if I had to I would fight someone for a piece of bread or a slice of turkey breast.

Actually, to be really honest, I think about food before I even start. I look at it as my goal for doing what I am doing. Keeping in mind that it has to be somewhat healthy. So, my thought is that I should always have something ready and waiting for me so I am not making something to eat and munching my way through as I am in the process of fixing the meal. You know what I mean.

I find that it really does help to have my items prepackaged. So, I have the veggies and fruit cut up, the meat weighed out, and the lettuce cleaned and ready for my plate. Lettuce is the most important part of my meal. If you know me, you know I speak the truth. Having the right size plate helps, too. Instead of the standard dinner plate, I always use a salad plate for breakfast and lunch.

OK, I know that some of my friends are probably saying, “But we know what your salad size plate looks like;” actually, I use a small salad plate. Now, at dinner it is an altogether different story.

I have found that the professionals who tell you to eat a good breakfast and make the middle meal of the day your biggest are on to something. In the morning I do feel better after eating something. I usually have an egg, switching between real eggs and egg beaters, over easy and a piece of whole grain toast with a tablespoon of peanut butter on it. The one thing I won’t do is go to eating fat free anything. I mean come on I am already losing out on seconds.

So, why go on and on about this? Bottom line is: it is working. I really cannot believe that lately I can go pass the last hole on my belt I find that I tuck in some of my T-shirts and use a belt. I know that maybe happened a decade ago.

Yes, I like it. So I encourage everyone to try it. Now, I am not trying to become a size anything—just want to feel good. Like I said before, I try very very hard to watch what I eat, but I am not going to deprive myself of cravings. I just control how much I eat of that craving.

Summer is soon here, and the one thing I know is that I want to go to the parties, eat the food and be happy!

Now, on a completely different note, this is all about using the word protocol and understanding what it means. So, I have to tell you a story, and hey, it is even a true one. Last week, after going to a new restaurant in town for, oh, about the fifth time in a row, I found that I was approached by this word.

So here is what happened, and I would love to know your thoughts on this. At this restaurant the thing I always do is walk in, find my table, sit and wait for my friends. When they show up, I leave my items on my table and go get in line to order my food.

Now, I have not had any problem doing this the first four times. However, this time, as I am ordering my food, I am approached by the waiter and she said “Are these your items?”
She had my purse and sunglasses in hand. I said, “yes, they were on the table I am sitting at.”

“Well that is what I thought,” she said. “However, the man at the table said someone must have left them there.”

“Nope I did not leave them. They were there to save my spot,” I said. So, I order my food, turn the corner and my purse and glasses are back on the table, and the man is still sitting there. I approach him, and tell him this is my table.

His response was, “Nope. I was in line before you, and I ordered before you, and I get the table before you. After all don’t you know the protocol for eating here?”

So, there you have it. Is he right for taking my spot, and am I wrong for trying to save it before I order?

I know that whenever I go to places like this, I always find my table first. So let me know your thoughts on that. Oh, by the way, my friend MC told me that the correct protocol was that “if he were a gentleman, he would have asked if someone had left their items and/or if it would be OK to join me at my table!”
In the end my friend and I sat at another table and had the pleasure of listening to this person talk loudly on his Blackberry ear phone as he ate lunch alone.
Next week I have an interview with the owners of Lotus Blossom, Inc. Also coming up: what does one have to eat at the Gala?
Any questions or concerns, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Stay safe and eat well. Until next week…