Failures and a Phone Call

This day started off as nothing but a chain of failures, but it ended up actually being great!

A.M.

I got up at 9am to get to the gym by 9:30. The second I walked in the gym I realized that my brain was NOT on this morning. Going to the gym in the morning after a holiday weekend?! Bad idea. It was packed with every single person who was not at work. Every machine was taken and it was swarming with people. I ended up turning around and leaving without doing one exercise. FAILURE #1. Went to Kmart afterwards and got some things I needed, then went to the library to return a book (that I wasn’t enjoying) and get a book that I REALLY wanted, but there wasn’t a free parking spot in the lot! FAILURE #2. When I got home I had a light breakfast since it was then 10:30 and I wanted to eat lunch no later than 12:30pm. I had a beautiful smoothie:

1/2 banana, mixed frozen berries, chocolate brown rice protein powder, splash of OJ, water

Isn’t that cup adorable?! When I was 14 I collected a bunch of stuff that had strawberries on it. This is the only item left and I love it.

A little before noon I went into the kitchen to make a fajita salad for myself (and a plain fajita for  the old man). I’ve been making this a lot lately, but I had some salsa in the fridge that I knew wouldn’t be lasting much longer, so I wanted to use it up. I opened up the salsa, and it had already gone bad. FAILURE #3.

Early P.M.

I already had the tempeh, peppers, and onions on the stove and some avocado mashed up so I just went with it. Instead of salsa I had a little vegan caesar dressing on the salad. It would have been better with little chunks of avocado, not all mashed up, but it was good nonetheless. And even though it wasn’t my typical fajita salad, I still enjoyed it with my standard grilled whole wheat tortilla.

As I was making lunch I got a phone call from Gladys, the head of volunteers at my local hospital. I got approved for volunteering! I had applied in early June and hadn’t heard back so I assumed it wasn’t going to happen, which was a big bummer because I needed it on my resume. It’s a HUGE relief to know that I got it and don’t have to worry about it anymore. I will, however, have to dedicate 10 hours a week for 5 weeks to get my 50 hours in since they contacted me so late, on top of working about 20 hours/week. But I don’t mind, yes my summer will end up being super busy but it’s better than trying to fit volunteer hours in during the school year with classes and work. I’m really excited! I have my interview (and TB shot?! 😦 ) on Wednesday, so that’s when I’ll have a better idea of what I’m going to be doing, but hopefully I’ll work closely with the dietetic staff (I am a Dietetics major).

After lunch I went out with my friend Rob and had a fabulous time hanging out, even though we only had two hours before I needed to be back at home to get ready for work. We played some tennis at the local courts. I am NOT a tennis player or any sort of athlete, we really go just to laugh and have a good time. But the 40 minutes we spent on the court definitely burned some calories and got my heart pounding (made up for no gym action!). And even better than getting sweaty, laughing so hard was like therapy! It felt SO good. Laughter really makes me feel alive. After we were done making fools of ourselves, we visited a friend (a.k.a. former teacher from high school) at her summer job, checking badges at a swimming pool. We stuck around there for 30 minutes, did some more serious laughing and then hit the road again.

I got home at 4:10pm and had to rush to get dressed, ready, and fed in time to get to work by 5pm. I pulled together a small but quick dinner. It was 1/2 a whole wheat pita w/ 2 falafel balls, tomato, red onion, shredded carrots, and a little Annie’s Lite Italian Dressing with 1/2 pickle and grapes. All you can see in the picture are carrots, but there was no time to fuss and try to get a better shot.

I clocked in at work at 5pm on the dot. Success!

Late P.M.

Work was so slow for the first 2+ hours, but of course it got busy 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave! I was scheduled for a 5-9pm shift but didn’t leave until after 10pm! When it was slow I managed to sneak about one Oreo (maybe slightly more.. they’re in crumb form) but once it got busy I didn’t even think about the Oreos or want any. THAT is why I like busy nights :-P. Other than the Oreo I didn’t eat anything at work and once I got home, showered, and was ready for a snack more than 6 hours had passed since my last meal. I was long overdue and looking for something good. I had 1/2 banana with natural peanut butter and about 3/4 c of dry Shredded Oats. This certainly hit the spot.

So my day may have started out problematic, but it ended up being exciting, fun, and productive. Plus, my confidence has been improving with each day. With each additional binge-free day, I feel better about myself and more comfortable in my own skin. It feels so good! And I definitely do NOT miss the feeling of a post-binge bloated belly. Now I’m enjoying my oh so appreciative of the yummy and healthy food you’re putting in me belly.

What a beautiful, wonderful, positive, obsession-free, happy day! More, please!