How Can My Diet & My Week-end Co-exist?

Hey ladies, Kristin here.    :o)

I used to LOVE Fridays.  (That was before I decided to get rid of my F-A-T.)  Now, weekends SUCK ASS.  It has taken about a month of fine-tuning, but I finally have the calorie-counting and carb-avoidance and little bits of exercising here and there falling into place Monday through Thursday.  I'm so proud of myself, I could eat a half dozen Cadbury Creme Eggs just thinking about this shaky accomplishment.  (I didn't say that I've figured out how to not think about my favorite treats every waking moment; that will never happen.  I accept this.)

My gripe is about Friday through Sunday.  At the office, it's easier.  I can leave the food at home; just not bring it to work with me.  I can plan my meals at home, pack only the necessary stuff into a bag for eating at work, and then if I'm starving while working, all I have to avoid is picking up the phone and calling Erberts & Gerberts or Zhong Hua.

But at HOME... it's a very different story.  My oven is there.  My baking cupboard is there.  I can SMELL the muffin mixes and chocolate-peanut butter chip cookie ingredients waiting to be mixed and baked.  There are over-ripe bananas waiting to be molded into gooey loaves of banana bread.  There is a fridge chock-full of not only my diet-friendly foods, but real, hard cheddar cheese(!), whole milk(!), butter(!), real bread(!), and Top the Tater(!!!)!  (Paige, may Mommy steal a 4-serving-sized "bite" of your cheese for breakfast?  Hmmm?  PLEASE, Paige???)  There are frozen waffles, adorable little packets of "fruit" snacks, and the teenager's after-school granola bars.  There are frozen pizzas and boxes of movie candy and corn chips and picante sauce.  (6 Doritos dipped in a little picante is 150 calories?!  Are you friggin' KIDDING ME?!)

You see my boggle.  I used to LOVE Fridays, and I used to so look forward to being home on the weekend...  I couldn't wait!  Now, Friday evening approaches and I feel nauseous.  I do OK at the office - the temptations aren't available, plain and simple.  But even though I've cleared out as much as I feel I possibly can from the fridge and cupboards at home to keep myself on-track, it's still not enough.  Friday night is often "movie night" with the family.  My other three family members will be sitting inches from me, scarfing my favorite food (buttered, salted popcorn...), and chomping boxes of movie candy (one treat we've always looked forward to at the end of a busy week...), and I'm supposed to sip a diet pop and nibble my RyKrisp???

I pride myself on having developed a bit of self-restraint of late, and I feel better-equipped to deal with cravings in general now, but even I - newly crowned Queen of Restriction - cannot resist when those next to me are reveling in their popcorn and other treats.  I. Just. Can't.

So, the week-end is here.  Most definitely a movie night for us tonight, as we are coming off the Week From Utter Hell.  Saturday & Sunday will be the usual torture; trying (usually in vain) NOT to bake, NOT to cook something too diet-unfriendly, and trying to find time to exercise in between loads of laundry, sinks of dishes, house cleaning, house projects, bathing the toddler, getting the teenager caught up on school projects, entertaining out-of-town guests, and the list goes on.  

I SO want to love my weekends again.
Any suggestions out there?  (Other than the painfully obvious, that is...  "Don't buy the treats if you don't want to be tempted by them, etc., etc. etc.") 

Yep, got that memo.  If I was single and lived alone, it would be a DONE DEAL!!!
Soldier on, chicas!!!

P.S.  I've been holding steady at 9 pounds lost.  I want to hit the 10-pound mark SO BADLY I can TASTE IT.  And right now, it tastes like a humongous glass of sangria.