Unattended Vegetable Tray

Today I have a meeting at a hotel near the airport. I have a lot of meetings in these kinds of locations for my job. One problem I've been having lately is avoiding the unattended vegetable trays left out after other people's functions. They'll frequently set up a buffet, the cookies and brownies will be all taken, but a giant, beautiful vegetable tray will be sitting alone and lonely, topped with celery, red peppers, little cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauiliflower, etc. It makes me so sad to see the veggies and think that they will be thrown out because most people just walk right past. However, these hotels get really upset if you eat off other groups' buffets. So I have this mental struggle every time... can I sneak a veggie? Just one red pepper? How about the zucchini that no one ever eats? A bunch of tomatoes in a napkin? What are the ethics here? Will they arrest you for absconding with a broccoli floret? Usually, as I'm wearing a business suit and I'm short and unthreatening looking, I can get away with lots of things where a man or anyone not professionally dressed would be observed. But eating from the unattended vegetable tray... might be pushing my luck.

Yesterday was another super busy day, running here, running there. Wasn't too hungry during the day, so ate eggwhite scramble, arugula and kalamata salad, tomatillo and tomato salsa on top of the salad, lowfat cottage cheese, and tomato tofu without the tofu. For dinner, a Caesar salad, dressing on the side, and a glass of red wine. I did eat some of the dressing, since my day had been too lowfat other than the kalamatas. I really need to just set a fat gram target and focus on it, like I've been with protein. Oh yeah, yesterday was too low protein too. I've got to get used to drinking a whey shake at four am. Without my shake, I just never meet my goal. The shake is like a magic bullet in the quest for the perfect protein (ick, mixed metaphors.) I regret to report to you that I ate the croutons on the Caesar salad. I think I was right around target on calories, but it would have been better to have had more protein, more fat, and fewer croutons.

Meanwhile, I ate an eggwhite scramble just now and will be out in meetings again all day, so getting enough food will be a challenge. I like to eat most of my food during the day, between about 10 am and 5 pm. I don't like to fill up at dinner and then go to bed feeling bloated. Eating right before bed really does give me nightmares. So I'm not sure what I'll do today. I have to leave the office at about 11 am to head out to an afternoon of meetings, followed by meeting a nurse at a hospital at 7:30 pm. The hospital lies in what seems to be former swampland, and I keep getting bitten by mosquitoes. I am almost happy about it... CR hasn't made me any less yummy! I was a little worried that I had barely gotten bitten at all this summer.

I'm hoping to spend some serious time this weekend on my Dr. Walford software trying out variations on my menus and adjusting to get more of what I need. It would be so much easier to do this if I just had some standards that I ate most every day. I can always throw in a tossed salad if I'm out, but I don't want to rely on my guesses to get the right nutrition. It's so much easier to count calories and leave it at that, ignoring the ON part. But now I know better... this CRON stuff can be a lot of work! However, if I can adjust a CRON diet to a schedule that requires me to be out the door by 5:30 am and working till 9 pm, then anyone can do it! It's nice that CRON helps you sleep less!