Ordering the pasta instead of the salad

For a long time I ordered at restaurants without thinking about it. I scanned the menu for lighter options and picked one. Salad instead of pasta200 kcal, nearly every time. I did not order based on preference. The lighter dish seemed responsible, and I had done it so often that it stopped registering as a choice.

I needed to gain weight. I still ordered as if my job were to eat as little as politely possible. The calorie math never supported that habit, and I never stopped to check it.

Now I pause before I order and ask what would actually feel good in my body. Some nights I have to ask twice before I trust my own answer.

Sometimes the answer is the pasta. Sometimes it is the dish with the extra cheese110 kcal. Ordering that way still takes deliberate effort against the old habit. Practice has made it easier, but the habit has not gone away.

Choosing it on purpose

I am gaining weight on purpose. That means the higher-calorie plate is often the one that meets my goal, and choosing it is a strategy. People order around their goals all the time. Mine point toward the higher-calorie side of the menu.

I choose the higher-calorie option on purpose because that is what my body needs right now. It took me a while to write that. When the pasta is what will feed me, I order the pasta.