Bump In The Road

Today was what I would deem my first bump in the road.  Up to this point, I have been very deliberate and organized in my efforts.  I made sure before I started that I had enough juice for the juice fast.  I had a plan for what I was going to eat once I broke the fast - and made sure that I had those things.  I have a very clear plan of what I am going to eat each day.

• Breakfast is yogurt with fruit and some nuts.  Right now I have blueberries and raw almonds.  Next I'll get some blackberries.
• For lunch, I will have meat - like turkey or chicken or whatever - and veggies or a salad.  Today I had baby spinach and turkey breast.  
• Dinner will also be meat and steamed vegetables.
• Snacks include more fruit and nuts.

We had gone to Publix and gotten food to make sure we were well stocked.  On Friday last week I got a turkey breast roast.  That got cut up and gave both Heather and I lunches for several days.  That was my plan.  Get a big roast or meat type thingee and use it for dinner.  The leftovers will help both Heather and I to keep our food goals going well.  

At Publix, I scored a boston butt pork roast and a london broil on sale.  Tonight I was going to make the boston butt - slow roasted in the oven.  My plan was to turn it into pulled pork.  I used some Emeril's pork rub on it and slow cooked it for eight hours.  I also got together a Piedmont BBQ sauce (vinegar based).  When I took it out of the oven, it wasn't able to be pulled.  It was the right temperature, but it was a pork roast instead.  No biggie, except I tried it and didn't like it.  I never have liked pork.  I only started liking pulled pork in the recent past.  I like the vinegar sauce on the pulled pork.  But apparently slow cooking a pork roast on a grill or in a smoker actually makes a huge difference.  In addition, the sauce was horrible.  It was basically really hot vinegar.  It didn't have any of the flavors I like - just like dipping a piece of pork into a vinegar bottle and splashing on tabasco.  In addition to all of this, the pork was not conducive to using for lunch.  It was a pretty big disaster.  [Heather and Josiah like the pork, so it wasn't wasted.]

Well, it should be easy to overcome this.  But, for some reason, it just threw me for a complete loop.  It wasn't just a meal getting messed up.  It was a bigger issue.  Now, I didn't have dinner for tonight OR lunch for tomorrow or the next couple days.  The london broil was in the freezer.  I got it out so I could make it tomorrow.  However, there wasn't anything for the right now.  Heather was trying to encourage me to calm down and just make some chicken.  In my head, though, I was battling old patterns flaring up.  "Just go get something tomorrow from McDonalds or something.  No big deal."  I don't want to go back down that trail.  "Run out and get some turkey from Boston Market.  Tomorrow will take care of itself."  

The thing about this effort is that I HAVE to be prepared several days out.  I can't let things run out in the fridge.  We have to replenish our stocks.  If we don't, that is when the trouble starts.  It always been this way.  We can do really well and then run out of our planned food.  We have to hustle and come up with something to do - and usually our choices are not very good.  I convince myself that one meal won't matter.  Or I tell myself that getting a chicken sandwich is better than a burger.  I don't want this to happen again.  I just saw myself going down that path and got terrified.  It started to flip me out.  

Fortunately, Heather is a wonderful wife who knows my wackiness and loves me anyway.  She helped to calm me down and show me that I still had options.  I went and got a pack of boneless and skinless chicken tenderloins out of the freezer.  I did my awesome cooking job on them with a nice blend of spices.  Then I took some baby spinach and tossed it in the pan after the chicken was done and sauteed it down.  HA HA!  TAKE THAT!!!  It was soooo good.  The spinach was delicious - the first time I had ever made fresh spinach.  I had always used frozen bags.  Uh, not anymore.  The fresh stuff is much better.  And the chicken was great - and it left me enough for two lunches.  Tomorrow night I'll do the london broil and we'll be back on track for the week.

So that bump was safely navigated.  I know it is only the first challenge.  I already have been fighting my thoughts - trying to come up with ways for certain foods to weasel their way back into my life.  I am still in the early stages, so my motivation is strong.  I know that I am moving out of the exciting start-up phase.  As time goes on, things will get harder.  I won't always be here in my safety zone.  I will have to travel and be out at lunch time.  It is very important that I continue to fight.  And each bump I am able to get over will make it that much easier next time.