The Ventura County fair opened last week, and my family and I were there on opening day.  We got there at about 1pm and were immediately assaulted by sounds, smells and visuals - the rides, the midway, the foods cooking, the music, the laughter of kids of all ages.  Since we had breakfast hours ago, we only made it through one exhibit before asking "What's for lunch?"

Strolling by food stands offering everything from cotton candy to funnel cakes, the world's largest waffle cone, giant hot dogs, chocolate covered bacon (is this a main dish or a dessert?), deep fried Oreos, and whatever other items could be put on a stick and fried, I wondered if I could find anything I would either want to eat or give myself permission to eat.

I knew I would- I had for the past 6 years, but every year I forget for a moment how far I have come in my ability to make choices.  The answer came soon as the smell of meats cooking over a wood barbecue drew me in.  Low and behold, we could actually get barbecued chicken, ribs or turkey leg that was neither smothered in barbecue sauce nor deep fried. 

My family ordered their chicken and rib dinners, and I ordered my turkey leg, barbecue sauce on the side, in case it was too dry to eat without sauce.  I knew I would be sharing my turkey because there is no way I could possibly get down a whole turkey leg in a day, let alone the 1/2 hour we would be sitting and having lunch. 

I peeled back the skin, had about 5 or 6 very small bites which I chewed very thoroughly, and then passed the rest of the leg to my husband who promptly devoured it.  Boy, was I ever grateful for my lap band.  This was the 7^th time I had gone to the fair since I was banded and I have had more energy to navigate the exhibits and have put less energy into eating my way through the fair each and every time.  In prior years I would have eaten the entire turkey leg and then looked for dessert.

Off to view another exhibit - photography, one of my favorites, and no food allowed in the exhibit hall.  Since we had an 8 year old with us we only lasted about 45 minutes at this exhibit and then back out to the midway and the visual and olfactory assaults.  I looked around me and the lines for all of the food booths were 10 deep and growing, and every other person had some sort of food in their hand.

I took notice of the fact that although I was definitely not hungry, I probably would eat something if I too had it in my hand.  Time to hit the commercial buildings.  While crafts and knives and pots and pans and windows and doors were for sale in these buildings, about every 3^rd or 4^th booth was food of some sort.  The world's best garlic stuff, spices, salsa, fudge, candy, cookies, ice cream, nuts of all types.  You name it, it was there. 

Hmmm, an entire bag of soy nuts was 130 calories, but the same size bag of toffee coated cashews was considered 6 portions, with each one having about 130 calories.

Okay, 130 calories per bag or 780 calories per bag. I chose neither since I don't like soy nuts, and I knew if I ate one cashew I would eat them all.  As we walked between buildings I kept seeing funnel cakes- dusted with powdered sugar, covered with strawberries and whipped cream, or covered with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.  OMG, they looked absolutely amazing and they were everywhere.

 




My youngest granddaughter was ready for the Youth Expo building and the interactive exhibits.  She was not yet ready for dessert (she at 8 years old and 50 pounds ate an adult rib dinner for her lunch and was still "Thanksgiving turkey full") but was ready to not be so bored looking at stuff.  I, however, was ready for my 2^nd course after my 2-3 ounces of turkey. 
Right outside the Youth Expo building was a funnel cake stand, and.........
A roasted corn stand.  I ordered an ear of roasted corn "naked" (no butter) and proceeded to enjoy about 1/3 of it in small bites, chewing very thoroughly.  It was extremely fresh, extremely sweet and absolutely YUMMMM! 

But 1/3 of it, or about 25 calories was all I could get down before feeling satisfied.  It seemed that biting pieces off the turkey leg, and biting kernels off the cob kept the amount I could eat down to a minimum no matter how thoroughly I chewed the food.  Once again, grateful for my lap band.

I had now been at the fair for about 3 hours and managed to consume, as lunch, about 175 calories of great tasting food while watching others consume thousands of calories.  Not bad, I was doing okay.  This time I just threw away the leftovers.  We sat down and watched a show in the Youth building and then my little one was ready for her dessert. 

Guess what her choice was?   That's right, funnel cake with powdered sugar, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.  Probably right around 600 calories of pure fat.  County fair and her birthday are probably the only times this child gets to eat food, and I use the term loosely, like this. 

Since her mom and grandpa were around we had them give us 4 forks.  Yes, that's right, I did indulge.  However, one small bite was too much.  It tasted like pure grease.  Since I no longer eat fried foods they actually taste bad to me.  I have found that French fries (even the crispiest ones) taste like oily potatoes, donuts like mushy, greasy cake, and fried fish like greasy breaded fish.  I have no taste for these foods any longer and that is a good thing!  The little one couldn't finish it either, even with her mom and grandpa helping so more food into the trash.  The only thing wasted was a few dollars, what was preserved was our health so we didn't worry about throwing some food away.

We were off to the professional landscaping exhibits next and were hypnotized by the aroma of hot kettle korn as we headed to the tent where we could "relax" surrounded by beautiful gardens and ponds and waterfalls.  My husband was hooked by the aroma, and so was I.  That sweet and salty taste is too hard to resist and too easy to munch as we walked along.  I didn't measure how much of the kettle korn I ate, but a conservative estimate is probably 2-3 cups overall.  When I check the calories for it I get anywhere from 35 to 80 calories per cup, so worst case is 240 calories of kettle korn

and about 175 calories of turkey and corn, 24 ounces of water and about 2 miles of walking around and a great time.  I managed to avoid the fudge at 140 calories per ounce (one ounce is NEVER enough), fried Twinkies at 420 calories, jumbo corn dogs at 260 calories, beef ribs at 400 calories, and instead made choices that made sense to me.

The best part was that I didn't suffer by not eating junk.  I still had a great time, felt good, and enjoyed all of the exhibits and the vendors. 

I was reminded of 3 things.  County fairs do not have to be all about food, lapbanded living does not mean you have to eat "special food", and being successful with a lap band is about making mindful food choices.