Dinner out!

Since I've been on this new eating schedule, which has been about 48 days now, I've been to three restaurants. The first time we met friends for breakfast, and was teased about the small amount on my plate. I left that restaurant full, and had eaten a 2 egg plain omelet and one pancake.
The second time we went out to eat, we went to a Mexican restaurant and both ordered the chicken tortilla soup. We had some chips and salsa, but only a few. We also had a good sized house salad.
On those two occasions, I felt like we were counting our calories, and stayed within our daily limit.
But last night, I knew in advance that we were going out. I woke up ready to plan my calorie intake for the day.
The first thing I did was go to the restaurant's website to check out the menu. It had the usual choices of meat and fish, and some nice soups and salads. After reading all the options, I made my choice.
So I spent the day doing my regular chores, and made an effort to spread my calories out longer in the day. I also had a big glass of water with Benefiber to get me through the afternoon.
By the time I got to the restaurant, I had only had my Egg Beaters in the morning, and an afternoon apple. This schedule deviated quite a bit from my normal plan of 100 calories every 2-3 hours. I had gone longer between snacks, and eaten less. But my goal was to save what calories I could for dinnertime, just in case something unexpected was on the table.
I got to dinner with about 800+ calories available to spend. But the unexpected was about to happen...
Our hostess ordered wine. And appetizers. And as much as I would love to shout from the rooftops that "I've lost 34 lbs and I didn't get to this point by drinking wine and eating appetizers!", I couldn't do that. I was going to blend into this party, and they wouldn't even know I was eating light.
So I accepted the half glass of wine that was poured for me, and it was delicious! :-) I also had one bite of the grilled asparagus on bruchetta and one crouton with warm artichoke dip.
What I ordered for my dinner was a cup of tomato basil soup, and the mixed green Mignonette salad with balsamic dressing and crumbled bleu cheese. It was a good sized salad, and was plenty for dinner.
At this point, I was thinking that I might go over my allotted 800 calories for the night. But since I didn't bring a calorie book with me, I had no idea what I was eating. I just hoped for the best. It all looked like a common sense meal, but I know the soup had heavy cream in it, and the bleu cheese was probably a no-no.
Then dessert came around. The table decided to order two to share, and we asked our server to bring a tiramisu, and a baked apple with raisins and a caramel type sauce.
I had two bites of the tirimisu as it came around, and two bites of the apple. They were both so good! I hadn't had sweets like that in 48 days!
We finished up with strong coffee. It was really a great night out, and a true test of my will power. Honestly, I think I did fine, and it wasn't hard.
Something has clicked in my brain, and I'll never look at food the same way again. I still have some bad tendencies, but I haven't followed through with them. I'm able to stop myself, and that is a sure sign that I'm turning things around. Thank God!
Oh, and I guess my internal calorie counter was working last night! I weighed this morning, and lost another pound! I'm at 35 now! I love that my goal keeps getting closer!