And the Celebration Continues…

We went to Austin this weekend for the boys to do Day Out With Thomas (more on that in an upcoming post!) and got to see Brian’s family while we were there. I had done a good job eating my Freshology meals throughout the week but again decided not to try and bring them with us on the trip – we had all our stuff and the boys’ stuff, and also our semi-giant puppy Sally. It was a lot as it is, so packing a cooler with dry ice to transport the food would’ve been difficult. Freshology offers options with their plans – 5 day or 7 day rotations. I think the 5 day plan would work best for anyone who travels – either that, or you could do like I am and spread the meals out longer to account for the skipped days.

We picked up Chick Fil A on our way out of town and I had an 8-pack of nuggets, which isn’t too bad, and a few french fries. Saturday I had Cheerios and fruit for breakfast. Again – not too bad, right? Lunchtime rolled around and we ate at IKEA, where I had a side of mac n’ cheese and a couple of squares of a chocolate bar for dessert. I know mac n’ cheese isn’t the best choice ever, but the portion was fairly small at least. We left straight from there to go to Day Out With Thomas and got in a little walking while we were there.

Then Brian surprised me with a date. And not just a date, but dinner out at a place I’d wanted to try for years:

We had SO much fun! I have to admit healthy eating went out the window, because I wanted to make the most of the experience (and I don’t know how healthy you can be with fondue, anyway). We ordered the four-course meal, which included a cheese course, a salad, a main course, and dessert.

Because I’m me, I took a few pictures while we were there (I know you’re not surprised in the least). The tables have a cooking element in the center of them:

Here’s Brian trying out our cheese course – we got the Wisconsin Trio, which had Fontina, Butterkäse and Buttermilk Bleu cheeses with white wine, scallions and a hint of sherry. It came with a variety of bread cubes and some veggies. We’re big blue cheese fans, and absolutely loved this.

The salads were great too, and then we moved on to the main course. Our waiter brought out a pot of broth and added orange juice, lime juice, and cilantro to it. We had a platter of meats to cook, including chicken, Angus beef, tuna, shrimp, and steak marinated in teriyaki sauce. We were also brought an assortment of sauces and spreads and a bowl of veggies. It was a lot of food and everything was really good! I love that it kind of forces you into a leisurely pace of eating.

Then came dessert – CHOCOLATE! We got one that had dark chocolate, dulce de leche caramel and sea salt. The waiter flambéed it and then we got to dig in – we were supplied with quite a few options for dipping.

My favorite was the bananas:

I can’t say enough about the service there, either. We walked in and as soon as Brian told them we had reservations they knew we were celebrating my birthday (he had entered the info online). The hostess handed me a birthday card signed by the staff:

Our waiter was great, too – incredibly friendly, informative, and attentive without being overbearing. As we ate our dessert course, someone brought out two flutes of champagne for my birthday. They really went all out to make the experience a good one. We  decided this will be our “special occasion” restaurant of choice now, because we loved it that much! It’s a little pricey, but we felt like it was warranted for sure – not just for the quality of food (which was great) but for the entire experience.

Sunday we ate lunch at Chuy’s, which is a favorite of mine, and I had a few cookies mid-afternoon. We did get in some walking, so that was good at least! I just skipped dinner, which I know is horrible but I didn’t want to consume any more calories than I already had.

So, the weekend was a wash… but I feel like it was worth it. I think life, and healthy living, is about balance. Most of the time I try to stick with the low calorie count so that in those moments of celebration I can enjoy myself. I don’t know if it’s what experts would recommend, but it works. What’s your approach? Do you let yourself have moments of diet abandonment?