Appetite Control

So far, I've been doing really well on the Weight Watchers plan. Granted, it's been only three days, but that's probably the longest I've done well on any eating plan lately. Well, I did okay with gluten-free but didn't lose much weight. If you're not familiar with the new WW plan, I'll sum it up: Each food has a point value -- and most fruits and vegetables have 0 points -- and you're allowed a certain amount of points per day, along with discretionary points to spread out over the week. (Or you could use all of your discretionary points at once in a big blow-out.) I made a big pot of soup tonight, and I could eat it all and use only about five points because it's mostly vegetables with broth and a little meat thrown in. It's pretty tasty, but it truly is a lot. So, anyway, the idea is that if you fill up on 0-point foods, you'll be satisfied and won't eat high-point (and high-calorie) foods.

I thought I would have a challenge this morning. My friend invited me to breakfast, and it's hard to find breakfast foods that are WW-friendly -- at least, in a restaurant. The place where we met had about twenty people waiting outside; that was out. Every other place nearby had people waiting too. Since we were doing a little shopping/browsing, we just headed downtown and looked for a good place to eat. In one of the nicer areas of town, we saw a cafe where I had eaten before. It was crowded but there wasn't a wait so we went for it. I chose the Desayuno de Costa Rica -- two scramble eggs with a bit of chorizo and some plantains, beans, and rice on the side. I was so hungry! Finally our food came, and I'm not sure what made me take a bite of rice and beans before anything else. I got a little something extra with that first bite -- a very long hair. I could feel it in my mouth, and I tried to brush my own hair aside, thinking (and hoping) that maybe it had blown into my face. No such luck. I pulled out the hair; it was definitely integrated into the rice and beans. I just held it up until the server saw me. I can't imagine what my expression must have looked like, but she got the message.

I ordered a bagel, and our server comped both meals. It's now about eight hours later and I'm still occasionally shuddering when I think about it. And I didn't eat anything else all day. Maybe the WW gods were watching out for me, but they could have been kinder. Still, it was an effective form of appetite control.