Waking up at the beach....

I pushed myself this week to get to the gym every day, so I could manage to get all four of my workouts in before leaving for Myrtle Beach for the weekend. I was proud of myself for actually fitting them all in. I had been struggling a few days this week with my stomach, and generally those are the days I take off during the week, but I knew we'd get caught up at Myrtle and likely not have time to get a work-out in, and I didn't want this to be the first week I missed making my goal.

So yesterday when we left, I felt pretty good about my week and the choices I had made. Then we started our road trip. In my former days, road trips meant chips, trail mix, Slim Jims, gum drops, Cokes and my Faves...Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. I decided it was OK to keep the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and trail mix in moderation, but I would trade chips for cheese and crackers and cut out the gum drops and Slim Jims. The challenge, I was to find, however, was not the snacks; it was the meals.

Our first stop of the day was Steak-n Shake. I didn't feel too guilty about one fast food meal, I had been pretty good all week and Steak -n- Shake was absolutely my favorite burger joint. Balance after all has been my mantra, so when we pulled off the Fredericksburg exit to discover a new Steak-n-Shake, both Chuck and I rejoiced. I had a small twinge of guilt when I placed my order, so I added lettuce and tomatoes to my normally plain cheeseburger. I couldn't forego the fries this time. Steak-n-Shake has the best shoestring fries in America. They complete the whole experience. I ordered a bottle of water to top things off, so I felt like overall I had made fairly good choices minus the fries.

I was surprised to find, however, that after I finished my meal, I still felt that twinge of guilt, and my stomach wasn't as happy as I assumed it would be. Hmm...what was going on? We continued down the road, and eventually dinner time rolled around. My stomach wasn't craving fast food again, but we didn't want to get to the campground too late, so we agreed we'd pick up something quick again. The only place that we could find where we could pull the trailer into the parking lot was a McDonald's. As I perused the menu to make my choice, I glanced at the salads, but the idea of a McDonald's salad seemed very unappealing, so instead I ordered the Mighty Kid's Meal with Chicken Nuggets and Apple Dippers. At least I was making an an effort, I thought to myself. We got our orders to go, so we could get back on the road. Once we were settled in the truck again, I opened my bag. They had gotten my order wrong.... no apple dippers, just fries! Now a really odd thing happened. Any one who knows me well, knows that fries were one of my four main food ingredients for the majority of my adult life. I've tried every fry at every restaurant in our area, and the only fries I don't like are the seasoned curly fries from Arby's. But when I saw those fries in my bag instead of the apple dippers, my stomach actually turned. After only three weeks of trying to making healthier choices, my body was already naturally turning away from the unhealthier choices on its own.


So I went to bed last night feeling as if I had fallen off the wagon, but I woke up this morning to an incredible sunrise at the beach and the realization that one bad day was just one bad day, and ultimately it was nice to know that even though I had trained my body for years to want the bad stuff, it had only taken it a few weeks to recognize that the good stuff was better for it. I'll make better choices on my way home even if it means an unappealing salad, or taking a little longer trip home.

One last thing, if I don't make my posting the next few days, it just means I'm rocking my road trip!