As I've said before, I feel that when I hear the same thing simultaneously from multiple unrelated sources, I feel as though that is God screaming something at me. I believe that He is telling me "slow and steady wins the race."
Lately, my diet has been going "pretty well." Of course, I went off plan for not only Thanksgiving day, but the entire week of Thanksgiving. We had a company lunch on Tuesday, family dinner Thursday, family in town and eating out Friday, Saturday, Sunday...then I had a stomach virus. I ate nothing and only drank Gatorade on Monday because I did not want to see anything in reverse. Tuesday, I made the point that I would be back at Medifast, and I tried to do it. I don't know if all of the protein was just too heavy for my stomach, but it made me feel horrible. So, I decided on Tuesday to eat some crackers in the morning, drink some organic ginger ale (since ginger settles the stomach), and I even stomached a sub sandwich for lunch (it was the only thing in the world that sounded good to me). So, while I wasn't outright feasting, I wasn't on plan. But, I cut myself a little slack because my stomach felt like butt. Well, that night for dinner, Justin and I went out to eat. I had Mexican (completely bad), and certainly no one can sell the "I had to eat Mexican because my stomach was too sick for Medifast." So, it became apparent that my Mexican meal was not an effort to eat something that didn't make me want to puke...it was me using it as an excuse. It was the age old "Well, I'm already off plan, may as well be off and enjoy it!"
That made me mad. I was irritated with myself that I'd made my typical "all or nothing" mentality mistake. So, I vowed then and there that on Wednesday, my butt was back on plan! And I was! With a vengeance, might I add! I cruised along through that week, and then the next one on plan. Sunday came, and we went to lunch with friends after church to a new Mexican restaurant. I tried to do well by ordering fajitas, vowing in my head not to eat the tortillas. Well, of course I ate them, and I felt lousy afterward. I went on to have pizza for dinner in true "already off, may as well enjoy it" style.
That night, I was disgusted with myself. So, Monday morning, I was on Medifast straight and narrow! Monday night, I went to dinner with a friend, at Mexican...believe it or not. What is up with me and Mexican? Anyways... I ordered a dish that is grilled chicken with onions and mushrooms on top, and a side salad with avocado and salsa as dressing. That's right...I went to Mexican, no chips, no tortillas, no cheating. I DEFEATED THAT MONSTER! Today is my "Day 3" of being on plan, so I've surpassed my DTs and I'm feeling good.
Last night I was on my way to dinner, and the thoughts of "I could have something off plan" entered my head. I didn't even seriously consider them...but they were there nonetheless. I noticed my friend Leah had posted a video about "staying on the bus." I plugged my phone in and listened to that video as I was pulling into dinner. The idea from the video that stuck with me was this: if you get off of the bus before you reach your destination, you're just wasting time, money, and repeatedly having to get back on. If you feel yourself saying that you should get off the bus, ask yourself "am I at my destination?" If the answer is no, sit your butt back down, and keep riding. MAN that fired me up. He was SO right. I'm NOT at my destination, there is NO reason to get off and wander around. So, I had a very good salad for dinner, and I was ON PLAN.
Today, during my lunch break (of eating Medifast...on plan...hells yeah), I was reading Dave Ramsey's book EntreLeadership. I was reading, oddly enough, a section about sticking with your plan for an extended amount of time to reach real success. Of course, he was primarily applying this to growing your business. This quote spoke to me: "[speaking of those who get too focused on a small goal] They trade real, rich, abiding deep success for the momentary win and then are constantly having to start over. Have a long-term vision and execute it. As the billionaire advised me, slow and steady wins the race." Well, there it is again. If I stop to enjoy some really delicious carby fried food, it's a momentary win. For that moment, getting off the bus and checking out the great food is fun and feels great. However, when I realize how much further the bus has to go and that I've been wasting a bunch of time being out there wandering around, I realize that I'm not achieving real success.
So, I thought I'd share that. I've got to learn to stay focused over time. If it's not a MAJOR holiday (Christmas, my birthday, etc.), my rump needs to be on plan. I've got a long bus ride, and I need to be making time. Else...I'm never going to arrive. If I'll stay on the bus, I'll get there on schedule, and have a whole lot of time to get off of the bus and enjoy my destination.
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