Day 34 - a song by Dave Matthews Band (#34) i had an awesome experience today....a little background first:back when i was living in san francisco and teaching dance, i would sometimes stop by a place called "fresh choice" near the dance studio. its a food chain that starts with a salad buffet. you start off with the salad bar and then they have soup, baked potatoes, pizza, bread, lots of baked goodies, ice cream, and pasta. when i was in my binge days, i would go there and start off well with my salad and soup. then i would go back and get a breadstick, pasta sauce to dip it in, sometimes a piece of pizza, brownie, gingerbread, cornbread and maybe something else if they had anything good. i would tell myself i'd only have like a bite or two of each and find myself with an empty plate at the end. and then i'd probably go back and get ice cream or pudding for dessert...like the baked shit i just ate wasnt good enough. anyway, after doing that too many times, i just stopped going there cuz i knew what was gonna happen.so i was out running errands today and i got hungry so i needd to find a place to eat. i came upon a place called "souplantation". i had never been but assumed it would be healthy and have a lot of soup. when i got inside i realized it was almost exactly like "fresh choice"! instead of freaking out and running away, i decided to go for it and see what happens. i made my salad and sat down. after finishing that, i went up for my second course. this is where it gets tricky but dont freak out. i got a bowl of soup, a pice of corn bread (2"x2"), a brownie (2"x2"), a piece of both types of cheesey bread (each was seriously small though, like smaller than the cornbread or brownie). first, i had my soup and it was damn good! then i moved on to the cornbread. i cut it in half and ate only one half. then i had 1 bite of each piece of bread. then when it came to the brownie, i cut it in half and then in half again. so i ended up having a bite of the 1/4 of the brownie, and it wasnt even that great. honestly, it was too chocolately! i never thought that was possible! thank god i was able to stop eating it after that one bite cuz i know there have been times when i've eaten things i dont really even like just to eat it....not this time! as soon as a i decided i didnt really like it, i was done with it. i couldnt believe that with all the bread and goodies i got, i seriously only ate la little ess than half of all of it! i figured after all that, i deserved some low fat vanilla pudding...yummy!! i love vanilla pudding, and its low fat! i scooped some into a bowl and told myself i'd have one spoonful....but whatever, i had 3, haha. so unlike my other experiences at a place like this where i would eat like 1000 cals in one sitting, this time i ate like 450! i ate a normal meal at a buffet!as i was leaving i was so proud of myself! i was also proud that these foods i mentioned were the only ones i took cuz they also had some awesome looking pasta, more types of bread, ice cream, and other stuff i just didnt need. i only took the stuff i really really wanted.it was great cuz i was able to enjoy the bread, cornbread, brownie, and pudding and not feel bad about it! i just couldnt believe that i was able to stop after eating half the breads and cornbread! and only 1 bite of that overly chocolately brownie! after all the bad times i had at that salad buffet in san francisco, i never thought i'd be able to go to one of those types of restaurants again, but i did, and i did so well! it was funny cuz as i was leaving i was thinking about how i couldnt wait to get home and write about it in my journal. seriously, it was such an accomplishment for...yay!!