In a couple of weeks I am hosting a nice dinner at a restaurant to celebrate my husband's birthday. Menu selections are chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken and luncheon halibut (probably breaded and deep fried.) I have been trying really hard to stick with the induction diet, but except for the salad there's nothing at this meal that I will be able to "legally" eat. My question is this: What happens if I splurge that day? Will it set back my weight loss for the day--week--month??? Can I "save up" some of my carbs during that week and the next to help even it out?

Another solution would be to be THE ONLY ONE IN THE CROWD WHO ORDERS A CHEF SALAD. I really hate to do this and draw attention to myself. Also, the above food items are the only selections given.

Any suggestions?

Go with the halibut...there's a good chance it'll be grilled or baked. Even if it's breaded, the carb count won't be too high due to the small amount of flour/cornmeal used in the breading. You'll go over your daily limit, no doubt, but the damage should be minimal. And fill up on the salad!

That said, I also want to say that you don't need to be afraid of sticking out and drawing attention to yourself. If you want a chef salad, order a chef salad!

Now, the really big question...what to wear!

Your trying to tell me that your the one hosting the dinner and you can't get a more carb freindly selection on the menu? You might want to talk with the people at the restaurant and see if you can come up with something a little different. There may be others coming to the event that would appreciate it also.

Yes, I'm the one hosting the dinner, but when I made the plans with the restaurant these were the three selections they offered me at my budget. I did think about talking to them to see if a chef salad could also be offered, but haven't done that yet. Those attending the dinner are supposed to get back to me this week on what their menu selections are, and I thought I'd check with them as they called to see if they would prefer a salad if it was offered. If there's several of us, I'll definitely check it out. In the meantime though, I was just wondering what a "regular" meal would do to my diet.

Either way though--I'd still like some birthday cake!!!

Why don't you look over the CAD cheat sheet and just plan to CAD for the day. That will give you an hour for dinner and as long as the dinner and CM are 90 minutes apart...you could space things out. If you have the meal and dessert served within an hour you could have dessert with your dinner.

Some Atkiners do use CAD when special occassions arise.

Honestly no one is going to notice or care what you order. I'd say get the salad, there are probably alot of other dieters that will, or at least people who don't want what they eat to be breaded and fried.

You might also call and see if the halibut is grilled. Since you are the hostess, talk to the resteraunt. Ask them to put something on the menu to meet your needs as well as the needs of any diabetics. You are the consumer who is getting this service, you tell them what you want, not let them tell you what you'll have.