What to do if you are out and have no food

[jlou]

Hi

I got "stuck" yesterday being informed we were going to friends for dinner and had no Cohens food with me, so I thought I'd start a thread so we can share ideas of what you would do in this situation (of course by the time you read this it might be too late... but might save you next time)

Okay so number one tip is that as I found yesterday, supermarkets do sell digital scales with 1g increments. However, if you can't get those, they should have little "normal" (mechanical/non digital) scales which would be better than nothing.

Tinned tuna is easy as it has the weight on it.

If you can't get scales:

- Pre-packed lettuce as it has the weight on it
- make them weigh out exactly the right amount in chicken tenderloins
- get a pack of meat as close as possible to your portion size (you may have to get one that is twice the size and halve it as most are 200gplus)
- if you are in a food court, they use scales at sumo salad. You could be brave and ask them to weigh your salad as they make it.

I figure that in an emergency it is better to get as close as possible to my allowances in the circumstances than to either have something not on plan or not eat at all - both of which would be complete derailments which would have me falling off the bus, as opposed to small deviations with slightly incorrect amounts.

Just make sure you stick 100% to plan the rest of the time so that instances like this are a very rare occurrence.

[Gremlin]

I posted in your diary also, but most supermarket vegie sections have digital scales in them (sometimes tucked up behind a giant crate of lettuce - but they are there somewhere - just ask staff if you have to). I weigh out my veg allowance in loose celery pieces on it. Or you could even do a few lettuce leaves or something if you prefer - celery is just easiest / you don't have to 'disassemble and weigh.'

Then get the deli dept to weigh out your feta cheese allowance to the gram. It's an easy makeshift solution as a one off if you're really stuck and don't have scales with you.

I washed the celery with a bottle of water, chopped it into 'celery sticks' and munch on them and the feta, it wasn't my best meal ever but it did the trick!

[emjay2010]

I posted this in your Diary but thought I'd put it here too.

We got caught out one day and could not make it home in time for lunch, so we decided to stock up our car boot.

We stopped at Woolies, bought scales, a knife with a sheath, a couple of spoons & forks, a small chopping board, salt & pepper shakers, a couple of containers so we could weigh our individual portions and have something to eat from. They all now live in the car.

All we ever need if we are out and stuck is to buy some salad stuff & cottage cheese and we have a meal. We have out meal plans on our iPhones so we always know what weights we can have.

[jlou]

And can I add - cheese is the only option except tuna if you can't cook. So if that is your only option but you have had your weekly cheese quota, I still say that deviation is preferable to going off plan completely (eg: don't buy cooked chicken instead of cheese because you had 3 cheese meals already, just take a break from cheese for the next 3 or 4 days to compensate)

[divineparadise]

I have prepared my cohens meal using the hotel buffet counter today. Breakfast was one hardboiled egg and mixed green salad. Lunch and dinner will be boiled prawns with salad. The only "deviation" is that the prawns are cooked and hence I do not know the raw weight. So what I did was to subtract about 10% of the weight. Still feeling guilty but better than skipping meals? I am still deciding whether to get a can of tuna instead.

[mumandnana]

Hi jlou and everyone, these are helpful hints thank you. Emjay, what a good idea to have everything needed in the car and kept there. I had the strangest thing happen to me this morning, I drove out the garage door and shut it and went and milked the cows and on my arrival back home I could not make the door opener work ( I found out later the power was off ) and was shut out of the house ! My thoughts instantly went to how will I manage my program ? Everything was inside and I was outside ! I thought I would have to fast but knew that wasn't allowed so I thought of each family member but that wouldn't work as I had no program to refer to ( I will photo copy my plan to keep in my glove box as long as that is not breaching the photo copy laws, any thoughts on this ? ) and they haven't got the right scales.I went to a friend who is on the program and her power was off as well but while I was there it came back on so I hurried back home and got the door open in case the power went off again !! If I had a spare set of equipment in the car all would have been fine. I need to get some correct keys for the other doors.We got keys for the doors when we built the house but they were wrong and it has never been fixed up and hasn't mattered until today. Anyway it all ended up fine in the end. We live quite a way from town ( yes, I know our distance from town is absolutely nothing compared to Australia ) your country is HUGE ! All the best everyone.

[mcpsych]

making a copy of your plan for personal use will not breach any laws or rules

[jlou]

provided you don't give it to anyone else - that is a big violation! I know that is not what you were intending to do, just clarifying for anyone else who might be reading

[mumandnana]

Thank you mcpsych and jlou. Yes, I understand that it is strictly for me My very own program, makes a person feel a little bit special !! I might even place it in a " secret " place in the car

[carrieanne_c]

wow, i have mine on my fridge I hope the neighbor lady hasn't seen it.