Lead us not into temptation

This week has had its bumps in the road.
My nutrition has been a little off for the past few days.
Looking back at my food journal, I see that I am lacking in greens and veggies.
This is probably because I need to start studying and practicing on the different ways I can use veggies in my everyday cooking. Learning different techniques and recipes will save me as I climb over this bump in the road.
I have been trying to incorporate veggies into soups, which has been working very well!
But I still need to be getting confortable with sweet potatoes/yams/parsnips (which intimidate me a little).
Getting bored with cooking will definitely throw me off and will literally sabotage all that I have worked for. So making sure that I open myself up to experimenting with different foods, will continue to solidify the creation of healthy habits and choices.

Going to work is a different story. I work at a drug and alcohol treatment facility and there is a chef that prepares all meals. The staff is required to eat with all the clients. This is were I face my greatest challenge. Even though the food at the facility concentrates on a low glycemic diet (no sugar, flour, or coffee of any kind), I seem to face a dilema. The food is still cooked in butter… cream is still added to the soup of the day… the chicken is still breaded… and the veggies are still covered in cheese.
The worst part of it all is the pressure that I get if I avoid certain dishes, not just from the clients, but also from one of the chefs themselves! He seriously reacts like its a blow to his ego. Its not like I DON’T want to eat it, because trust me, I eye that “healthy low glycemic” buttery parmesan crusted pasta every time I see it. Even though I have numerously expressed the importance of how important it is for me to eat well, I keep hearing him insistently convince me that its not bad for me and then continues to offer me desert! I think they are trying to fatten me up!!!
Honestly though, if you get in the field to make food, you cannot make heavy (but delicious) food and expect everyone to fly out of their chair for a helping.

This doesn’t always happen though. A lot of the time, there are healthy options. But when these situations surface (about twice a week), its hard to not get frustrated, let alone give into temptation!

So I have to find ways around it. Bringing veggies or salad of my own into work can solve the problem. But I just don’t want to be that arrogant asshole who is too good for the chef’s cooking. There is blurry line between being rude and staying disciplined…. and I am treading it carefully. Especially since its a fairly new job and I don’t want to stir up any negative reactions.

Wish me luck!