Every Day is a Winding Road

Well, it didn't take long for me to encounter one of the common downfalls to many "dieters". (I'm not "dieting". The word "diet", as it is commonly used, refers to a change of eating habits for a certain amount of time to lose a determined amount of weight. Not what I'm doing here. My goals aren't numbers, they are states of being. I don't want to weigh a certain amount, I want to feel a certain way. I'm looking to change for good - not for a week, month or year. You get my point.)

Are you a planner? I'm a planner. I like to be prepared. I like to have a lot of healthy options in the house so I can have choices when I am putting together meals, both in my head and on my plate. But some days, life doesn't go according to plan.

Today was one of those rare days, thankfully, that I was required to work 11.5 hours with no break. The school opens at 6:30 and closes at 6:00. Today, I needed to be the opener and still work til 6, which is my usual, and there was no one available to give me a lunch break. This happens now and then, and though they are long days, it's also oddly comforting to know every detail of what goes on in the office for a day.

So I ate oatmeal as I was getting ready for work, at 5:45 this morning, and I packed a lunch and snacks to get me through the day. I was planning to eat a turkey and mustard sandwich, a few little pickles and a peach for lunch, and I also had some melon and a granola bar with me. These were the easiest, safest options for my day and I was looking forward to enjoying them.

Well, I think the owner of the school was feeling a little sympathetic about my schedule today and wanted to make it easier. He brought me a Starbucks tall non-fat iced chai on his way in. My absolute favorite! And then he bought lunch for all of the teachers at the school from Corner Bakery, because we've all been working hard and he is just a really great boss. I ordered a cup of chicken tortilla soup to go with my sandwich and pickles. I also ate the peach and a few bites of melon at different points in the day. And then he brought me another drink from Starbucks in the afternoon. So nice. The last drink was a surprise and he was wingin' it. Fortunately, I didn't really like the drink and he didn't stick around to see me not drink it, so no points were wasted there, and the sentiment was still greatly appreciated.

So my pre-dinner point usage was higher than I had planned. That gave me some choices to make at dinner. In the end, I still ate what I had originally intended to eat tonight, even though it put me a few points over for the day. I could have omitted a couple of  things and come in on target but it would have  likely sent me to bed hungry and the last thing I wanted to do tonight was lay in bed wishing I were in the kitchen eating.

Not every day is going to go according to plan. My goal is always to use my points, or close to it. I don't mind coming in a few points under goal for the day, but the points are there to be used and I don't want to have a fake daily goal and an actual daily goal. Too complicated. I also am not going to freak out if I am a few points over once in a while. Yesterday, without meaning to, I came in 16 points under goal. Didn't mean to, it just happened that way. A lot of my food yesterday was fresh fruit and veggies and they are zero points. So I stopped when I was full and didn't worry about the goal.

The same thing was true today. I stopped when I was full and didn't worry about the 3 flex points I ended up using.

I'm happy to say that I am not hungry, and headed to bed =-) Tomorrow will be a shorter day. Thank goodness!