Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming

You know what you gotta do when life gets you down?
Just keep swimming

Just keep swimming
 -Dory the Fish

OK, so I almost have the Disney thing out of my system...

This happened on Monday, but it was still on my mind this morning. Monday morning started off in the usual fashion: oversleep, rush around, curse, knock something breakable over, forget one of my gadgets, run out the door with sweat on my brow. It's fun, really. It must be because I do it almost every. single. day.

I was supposed to make something for lunch before I left, but that definitely didn't happen so I figured I would grab a salad near work. There are quite a few pick-your-own-ingredient salad bar type places near my office, so not a bad option for a quick and healthy lunch.

And then lunchtime rolls around and my desire for salad goes right out the window. I didn't feel like it, I wasn't in the mood, a client was mean to me, blah, blah, blah. Who knows why, my brain is full of excuses. I started thinking about other options, and I decided I was in the mood for Chipotle.

Guacamole and DREAMS. No wonder I can't stay away...
Photo credit



I started walking in the direction of my favorite Chipotle (there are three within walking distance -- thanks, midtown!) but halfway down the street, I just stopped.

Why do I sabotage myself like this?

I'd had a plan for a healthy and tasty lunch, and I was ready to ditch it on a whim for fast food. True, Chipotle is pretty good as far as fast food goes, but I always end up eating lots of white rice and too many chips -- exactly the kinds of things I'm trying to stay away from. And sure it would taste good, but would it taste THAT much better than the salad I was planning? No, probably not. Chipotle was not the best choice, so what was I doing?

I turned around and headed in the other direction to my favorite salad place. That's the good news!

The bad news: the salad I ended up getting totally SUCKED! Ugh. I thought I would get rewarded for making the right choice, but I guess the universe isn't always about keeping score like that.

I tried to take a picture of the sad salad, but I don't think this photo does it justice. It really looked (and tasted) a lot worse.

Lunch FAIL
I had wanted a chicken Caesar salad but they were out of grilled chicken (this is why you shouldn't wait until 2pm for lunch) -- that was the first problem. I saw the roast turkey and decided to go with a Cobb-type salad, and I think this was the fatal blow. When it came time to add avocado, my salad maker reached a spoon into a murky green soup and pulled out some watery avocado chunks and about a quart of slimy water and dumped it in my salad. I had hoped it wouldn't be that noticeable, but when I sat down to take a bite I realized I had a soggy mess in a bowl. Everything was covered with a slight green ooze. Blech, I'm dry heaving just thinking about it. Seriously, how hard is it to slice a fresh avocado people?

I managed about three bites and then just gave in. Nine bucks, in the trash. I also didn't really have the time to grab anything else, so I was just stuck with this total bust of a lunch.

I started down a Sliding Doors-line of thinking: What would have happened if I'd gone to Chipotle? Would I have been happier? Would I have stepped into the road and been hit by a runaway taxi? Would I have chopped my hair into a blonde pixie cut and met a cute British dude?... but then I just let it go. I stuck to my plan, I did the right thing, and it just didn't work out. It isn't a sign, it isn't the universe telling me something, it just happened. I can't let it get to me, I have to just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

Around 3:30 my tummy did start to grumble, so I grabbed my favorite dirty deli snack:


String cheese and sesame sticks -- yum! The pretzels were a little carb-ier than I'd like, but all things considered it was a good choice. And so filling! I got home from work fairly early, and I was able to get tons done before I even started to think about dinner.

This morning I managed to drag myself out of bed in time to prep some lunches for the rest of the week. I'm definitely off deli salads for a while...


2 comments:

  1. I am in LOVE with Chipotle! However, I seriously need to sit and stare at their nutritional info each time before I head there to figure out and convince myself what I want. I've been getting the chicken soft tacos with healthy ingredients on them... and ask for NOOOO chips. It's torture, but it's been working lately! :)

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  2. Yes, I guess the problem is not Chipotle -- it is my usual order. I start of thinking I'll get something relatively healthy, like a salad or a veggie burrito...and suddenly I'm in the line saying "more rice! more guac!"

    There is a Chipotle in Chelsea (8th & 18th) that is a test kitchen for the chain and often has lots of fun (and healthy) options like brown rice and whole wheat tortillas. Now only if they would introduce those things to the other locations!

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