Diet & Fitness

By Joanne Eglash
eDiets Contributor

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Most of us have at least one or two Dreadful Dating Tales from the past (I must have acquired at least a dozen of them -- hmmmmm, so what's up with that?!). I defy anyone, though, to come up with a more stressful dating situation than my recent experience.

That evening, I combined the dreaded blind date ("He's a cousin of my nephew's best friend, and he's new in town and lonely. You'll love him!" said Mad Maggie) with the second week of an all-out effort on the Atkins diet ("No bread. No rice. No potatoes," my menu-obsessed mind fretted). Although I had been on low-carb diets before, this time was an "I mean it no exceptions I'm on the mother of all diets" diet. You know the kind I mean, where it seems as if one day everything fits just fine and the next day NOTHING in your closet fits!

Not the perfect preface to a romantic evening. However, I'm acutely inept at devising plausible social excuses. Somehow "I have to wash my hair" or "My cat is terribly sick with hairballs" just doesn't ring true.

So there I was, half an hour before the established time when the doorbell would toll, and I was hastily looking through the dining section of the local newspaper. For some reason, no restaurant called "The Perfect Atkins Dinner for Blind Date Duos" appeared in the list. The minutes ticked by -- and the doorbell rang.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for your Appointment with a Bad Date.

I opened the door to a vision. Purple leather pants. Brighter-than-a-billboard-blue turtleneck. Despite the garish garb, my blind date (let's call him Chucky Cheerful) seemed to be the subdued type.

"Hi ya," said Chucky.

"Hi," I volleyed right back at him. Candidates for scintillating conversationalists of the year? Not exactly.

After five minutes more of conversational attempts ("Cold weather, isn't it?" I asked. "Yeah," he said), I asked him (crossing my fingers) if he had chosen a restaurant.

"Pizza?" Chucky suggested.

My Atkins-analytical brain gears began to tick. Cheese: good. Tomato sauce, possibly containing sugar: not so good. Crust: really bad. Garlic bread: even worse.

"Uh, I'm allergic to oregano," I lied.

Chucky sighed so sadly that the newspapers on my coffee table fluttered. "Pasta?" he proposed. "There's a place I like where you can get a huge dish of pasta with sauce plus a free dessert, like apple pie with ice cream on top."

I felt like I was stealing a lollipop from a baby as I murmured, "Ummmm, I'm not terribly fond of pasta."

The gloom on Chucky's face made it clear: I needed to suggest a tasty alternative. I thought of one of my buddies, who adored the Atkins diet because it permitted his favorite "guy food": steak!

"Chuck, how about a steak restaurant? There's a good one near here, and the steak platter includes all kinds of extras, like bread," I said hopefully, promising myself mentally to push the bread to his side of the table.

"Yeah!" he said joyfully. "I love steak and french fries and catsup."

Highlights of the remainder of the evening included:

-- Cramming into Chuck's tiny bright yellow Volkswagen bug and discovering that the crack in the leather seat caused the seat springs to poke into my back throughout the bumpy ride (bumps courtesy of the aging VW, not the road).

-- Chuck's joy when I informed him that he could enjoy the entire bread basket by himself.

-- The waiter's dubious compliment to me: "Wow, you're the first woman I've ever seen eat an entire New York Sirloin Special steak without asking for a doggie bag!"

-- Chuck's parting comment to me as he parked in front of my house and waited for me to exit, "Since you're not into desserts, I won't bother inviting you to go with me now for dessert. I'll just hit Baskin-Robbins on my own."

And thus, dear friends, ended my first Date on a Low-Carb Diet.

Lessons learned:

1: Plan ahead whenever you can: Take charge and know your low-carb diet limitations. Put yourself first and think about what you like to eat that's allowed, whether it's fresh crab, a thick steak or a broiled chicken breast. Check out the local restaurants and come up with at least two to suggest. That way, you're in charge but your date has options, too.

2: Call the restaurant before you go. Don't assume what you want will be available, particularly if you're planning on asking for a menu item that's available only in season or a substitute ("Instead of a baked potato, could I have a half-cup of salad greens?"). Increase your odds of success by calling ahead well before your date arrives. That way, if you need to change your list of restaurant suggestions, you'll have no problems.

3: All carbohydrates count -- whether you eat them off your plate or someone else's (yup, and that includes "free food," too!). I used to have this theory that if I shared someone else's meal -- or "just had a taste" of someone's dessert -- or received a meal for free -- the calories didn't really count. It was the same theory that applies to the crumbs at the bottom of the cookie bag or the bits of brownies that cling to the side of the pan. Alas, that theory is both false and fattening, whether you apply it to calories or to carbohydrates.

In other words, if you're on a low-carb diet and are tempted to accept that half slice of cheesecake topped with fudge sauce that your date is offering, it's wise to calculate first whether you really want it/need it. Are you just being polite? Do you feel like you "should" accept because, well, it's a date? Put yourself first and, if you want to stay on your diet and that diet does not include an unplanned-for indulgence like that type of dessert, then politely decline, saying something such as "it looks scrumptious, but I'm full."

Bon appetit (and happy dating)!

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Joanne Eglash is a writer and an editor specializing in health, weight control and fitness. She's written for a variety of publications and websites, ranging from Energy for Women magazine to KidsHealth.org. Email your feedback, suggestions for future articles and questions to her at healthylifestylescoach@yahoo.com.

Labels: atkins-diet, dating, dining-out, dinner, low-carb, relationships, steak, weight loss, weight-loss

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