So my lunchbox. Yeah, about that.  Totally forgot it today.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not the end of the world.  When you’ve been on point all week with your eats, however, it seems devastating.  You’ve told yourself all week that you’re making the right decisions and you’re excited about it.  Then you forget your lunchbox filled with Brown Rice, Steak, Homemade Beef Noodle Soup, Clementines, a Cliff bar, Mio and other essentials.  A nice Clean Lunchbox. Now what?

Jimmy Johns, Erbert & Gerberts, Subway, Green Mill, Chinese Takeout, Cupcakes in the breakroom, vending machines, soda, a granola bar smothered in chocolate someone left in the studio: that is what.

This is the part of the day when your stomach starts to talk back to everything you do, you start to feel light headed and all these food temptations that are NOT part of plan start to hover around you like a bad after school special on drugs and peer pressure.  C’mon Brookie, everyone’s doing it.

It’s almost infuriating.  Studies show that “habits” take days if not weeks to become the ‘norm’, but let’s be honest with ourselves here, once a Carb Fiend, ALWAYS a Carb Fiend.  Having been through the weight loss journey once already, I can affirm that although we lose taste for much of the ‘bad’ in the food world, are we really going to turn down a caramel roll fresh out of the oven with our coffee the next time we visit mom’s house?  The answer isn’t YES, it’s MAYBE.

Life is too short to deprive ourselves 100% of the time of the things we’ve grown to love.  It’s not about NEVER eating things we love, it’s about moderation and timing.  Eating a fast food lunch only 4 days into my new weight loss journey is much more detrimental to my emotional and physical success than it would be 3 months down the line.  I know for a fact that I will beat myself up over it and then battle the “give up and start again tomorrow” mentality.

I don’t know why I do it, but I procrastinate the success.  “Well, that wasn’t on plan.  I’ll start again tomorrow.”  Why tomorrow? Why not immediately following.  I know why.  I try to make it perfect.  After many conversations with Ben and my other support systems, I’ve come to the glaring conclusion:

IT’S NOT GOING TO BE PERFECT.  THAT’S PERFECTLY OK.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this new mantra doesn’t mean I’m going to eat a doughnut with my coffee every morning, but it does mean that I’m going to try and mentally prepare myself for slip ups and when they do happen focus on the moving on part, rather than dwelling.

Now, back to the matter at hand: lunch.  I’m about to pass out or break something if I don’t get this blood sugar up, so I’m contemplating taking my cookies out into the -7 F temp / -24 F wind chill of MinneSNOWta to go to the Pacific Wok just down the street.  I can at least get steamed veggies, chicken and brown rice…AND it’s on plan.  I guess I’ll be asking Santa for “Pacific Wok Delivery without the $50 minimum”.

***UPDATE***

yeah. I got Erbert & Gerberts.  Spartan on Wheat with Tomato Basil Soup…and are you sitting down?  A Diet Coke.  I may start a Diet Shaming Website that will rival that of every dog that ever ate the trash.

On a positive note, I didn’t harm anyone or passout.