Fried Food Fridays

Try saying that three times really fast!! Today didn't start out to be "fried food Friday" but that's how it ended up. And I make no apologies for it, it was hot, tasty, salty and good.

Now I do try to eat healthfully during the week and sometimes I'm more successful that others, but I do make the effort. I try to incorporate more fruit and veggies in my meals. I try to bake, roast or grill any meats with maybe a fried option every now and then. I drink lots of water and limit myself to just one soft drink (coke) a day. Whole grain cereals and whole wheat bread is the order of the day. Now I may not be perfect and at times I don't succeed but I do make a conscience effort. I also make a lot of food from scratch.

But Fridays are a different story. I like to think of it as my "free Friday". By that I mean I am not so diligent about what I eat, I can indulge myself and not feel bad about it. I might have pizza, French fries, bacon or even have a big bowl of popcorn with butter for dinner. Of course I'm not saying I eat all that every Friday, it just options.

Where I work there is a coffee shop in the lobby that serves breakfast and lunch at very reasonable prices. They have bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy, French toast and also cereal, fruit, muffins and yogurt. For lunch there is assorted sandwiches, hamburgers and fries, chili, cheesesticks but also salads, cottage cheese and fruit.  Most days I bring my lunch from home, but of course, not on Fridays! Everyday there is a lunch special for $3 and it could be anything from nachos to soup and a sandwich or salads or philly cheesesteaks. Let's just say that there is quite a bit to choose from.

Well, today I brought a couple of pancakes from home. I had made them from scratch several weeks ago and then froze them to use when I wanted to. They aren't big, about the size of the palm of your hand. Anyway, I brought two of them from home and then got some bacon from the coffee shop, a yummy breakfast since I usually only eat bacon about once a week.

The lunch special today was a fried, crispy, spicy chicken sandwich and onion rings, yummy, yummy onion rings. I couldn't help myself, I hadn't had any onion rings in forever. It was well worth it. I was full and I didn't feel the least bit guilty about it. But I could have used a nap......and a mint.

This was not a usual Friday splurge with all the fried foods, sometimes I might just have a big salad, a wrap or just some chili and a grilled cheese sandwich. Although, Friday will always be "bacon day".  But my point was that I like to have one day a week where if I wanted to eat really bad all day then I will and I won't feel guilty about it. And I found that if you give yourself permission to splurge, more than likely you will pick "not too bad foods" a majority of the time but if you're too restrictive (at least for me) then when you go off track you REALLY go off track.

I did redeem myself by just eating a bowl of cereal, Wheat Chex, for supper.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Kathy