ah, the restaurant industry

Today was the first day at work since I began this journey. It is a hot zone of temptation. There is soda and bread in unlimited supply and a dessert cook, Jose, who I swear is one of Satan's secretaries because he is always offering chocolate. Or cookies. Or whipped cream. Or marshmallows. Or mini M&M's. He's one that likes "meat on the bones" and today you would have thought that I told him his puppy died when I turned down his offer for a piece of broken Hershey's milk chocolate (we have s'mores on our menu, but they require the chocolate bar to be unbroken and the receiving department apparently hasn't gotten the memo, so the broken pieces end up in a dish in the bread station for anyone who cares to indulge.)
We also have a bread cart that, for a carb FIEND, is a one way ticket to Heaven. It has corn bread and epi french rolls and asiago peppercorn breadsticks and breadbowls and slider buns and everything else that somehow manages to stick to my thighs when I just walk past it. The management doesn't mind if we grab a piece of bread real quick to snack on if we're hungry. And who likes just plain bread? We have dips! Katamala olive aioli (mayonnaise based) and poblano pesto (oil based) and ranch and peanut butter and jelly and regular butter and BBQ sauce and marmalade. OH GOD! SOMEBODY STOP ME!!
Despite all this temptation, I learned something about myself today. I had to consciously stop myself. We have a special "feature" menu every month and since today started a new month, we had to taste it. What was the first thing brought into the room? Blueberry pie with vanilla bean ice cream and raw sugar on top. Are you kidding me? I debated because I'm trying to cut out sugar, but then I realized that there is going to be a lifetime of desserts and I need to learn portion control, so I had two bites. And stopped. Whereas normally I'd be the one polishing it off. I had two bites of the corn puree and two bites of the red tomato gazpacho. A MIRACLE in my world.
Throughout the night, I had to stop myself for reaching for a piece of bread, or a piece of chocolate, or a swig of soda. All these things I literally went for subconsciously. Got ready to pick it up and pop it in my mouth. I stopped and debated and had an "a ha!" moment where I realized just HOW much snacking I do!
I went out after work with one of the girls. It was her 6 year anniversary and her boyfriend was at home asleep because he has to be awake early. We went to Zen32, which is a local sushi place with reverse happy hour. DILEMMA! Cocktail or no cocktail? Sushi or no sushi? So, once again choosing lifestyle change, I had ONE drink (well rum and diet) and a hand roll (that i ate around the rice) and a few more pieces of crab and shrimp and what not. I DID give in and have two spicy crab wontons, but I just ate the middle and left the crispy triangled ends.
Overall, it was a good day and I feel pretty good about the choices I made. Granted, according to my SparkPeople daily nutrition breakdown I had too many carbs, but I'll stay away from them tomorrow.
Honestly, I highly recommend using one of those sites to track your caloric intake. You'll be shocked. SHOCKED.