You Want Ice Cream with Those Nuggets?

Post Number: 66

Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily Points Left: 31 of 71 (Goal: 31)
     Weekly Points Left: 49 of 49 (Goal: 49)
     Pedometer Reading: 8658
     Meetings Attended: None Scheduled
     Exercise Completed: Swam 4 1/2 laps at the Y (225 yards)

I know I am going to be in trouble at one point in the day. I know that I need to not do what I'm supposed to not do. And still, I went forward inthe wrong driection.

Yesterday started out with a simple plan:

1. Family Breakfast with my Mom.
2. MBWM heads off to an appointment for paperwork for an assisted living facility
3. I take my Mom shopping
4. I take my Mom home
5. I take Asian Red Fox to lunch with her friends
6. My kids and I hang out at the library
7. My kids and I head home
8. MBWM heads home
9. I head to the Y for my swimming
10. Hold Family Home Evening
11. Wrap up the day.

That was the plan. Lots of gaps of time in case events ran long. My kids were even up and dressed before 6 am. And then things fell apart. It took more than an hours and a half to get everyone out the door. The cars were difficult to start. I even had a brief scare because the sliding door to my van was left open all night. When I opened the front door, the interior dome lights didn't come on. At least, they didn't come on right away. The spring that triggers the light to come on must have been too cold to want to move. It moved eventually. The dome lights came on shortly before I put the key in the ignition. That was a blessing.

But then things went back down hill again. MBWM's paperwork efforts ended up taking 7 1/2 hours, so she was not available at any point in time when I had hoped to exchange cars so she could have the kids. My Mom's shopping added Christmas presents for the kids. Then she added getting something new for our home and a Christmas present for MBWM. This led to a whole series of complications that included my adding to the errands. I will avoid the specifics after that point because this entry is too much of a travelogue already.

In the end, the extra errands were completed. I was especially grateful to find bobbins for MBWM sewing machine. We haven't been able to find them since the move. So she has been winding and unwinding bobbins for her sewing projects. But it was now almost 4 pm. The kids had been couped up in the car pretty much all day. Poor little Quail had been because he'd fallen asleep in the van. We rotated people to watch him while the kids went inside to visit the library and other locations. After a couple of those errands, I made the kids stay in the van while my Mom and I ran the errands. The kids were hungry. Time for a cheap drive-thru. Then there was a chorus of pleas for the restroom. My original plan was to have them use the restroom and then hit the drive thru. Then they saw the play place. And because of their imposed incarceration in the van, I relented and agreed to eat inside.

Eating inside is where things began to fall apart for my food selection. I chose the least fatty/carby option for me. And that's all I ate. The four youngest were sharing a 20 piece nugget and large fries. Asian Red Fox ordered her own meal. I was thrilled. Lots of sharing meant lower cost. And when the kids were done, they ran off to play. Quail ate the most, but they left 7 or 8 nuggets and nearly 1/2 the fries. Asian Red Fox ate some of them. I tried to talk myself into throwing them away, but money is tight. I wish my Weight Watchers Pocket Guide had been with me. It is something ridiculous like 11 points for 6 nuggets. I had been doing so well before that platter of nuggets. But that opened the flood gates. I stemmed the tide a little, but I still ate dessert after dinner. I finished zooming up to 40 points in two small meals after starting the day fairly well.

I could have done much better if I had remembered my Weight Watchers class about using routines to assist with spaces. Running errands: Bad Space. Burger King: Very bad space. Routine: Bring healthy snacks. Blew it right there because I was going to be home after Asian Red Fox had lunch with her friends. This would have made things okay because then I would have plenty of healthy options to assist in doing well.

I will have to do very well today. It shouldn't be too hard. I'm only leaving the house for OA and the Y. No food temptations there. And I will be focused on overcoming yesterdays slip. The two prime mental efforts being if you are leaving the house, take a healthy snack. I will be taking a healthy snack today, even though I don't expect to make any stops other than OA and the Y. And the other lesson is, plans go astray in a big way when Murphic Entropy is on the loose. Overcome that by taking a healthy snack. I have to like that. Two problems. One solution.

Yours in the learning experience that overcomes set backs,

Eliot

P.S.:
I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. - Jennifer Yane

That is so true. Just last week, two Tuesdays crept up and knocked me around so badly that Wednesday gave me a concussion without breaking a sweat. - Eliot

P.P.S.:
Yesterday was one of those days.