Did I REALLY Do That?!?!?!

This morning I didn't have time to catch breakfast at home and still make it to church on time.  Even if I DID have time, I'd have been hard pressed to have a good breakfast at home because we really didn't have a lot of good stuff to choose from.  Never made it to the grocery store yesterday.  So, after the early service, my tummy was GROWLING...clearly hungry.  And I was in a rush to head to another church to watch my friends' children being baptized.  A truly busy morning.   Some days are just like that, I know...but you can do better than I did this morning.  Let me share with you what happened...

 On the drive in between these two churches, I decided I needed to get something to eat so I didn't embarrass myself with a growling stomach during the baptism and worship service that followed.  So I stopped at a fast food restaurant and got a breakfast sandwich...one which I have eaten several times before.  (I'm not naming the restaurant, because some of you might be tempted to put the blame on the restaurant for this entire episode...and that would be missing the point.  There's no "blame" or "shame" here...but a lesson to be learned!)

I ate the sandwich, and then noticed something that truly, truly disgusted me.  There was grease coming through the paper bag I received my sandwich in.  The wrapper around my sandwich must have leaked out some of the grease/oil from the sandwich and that made a grease spot on the bag like the one in the picture above.  In fact, there was so much grease that my pretty little leather seat...where the bag was sitting while I drove... got some of the overflow!  EEEWWWW!!!!

That's when I realized something horrible.  As "ewww" as that was on my seat...THAT'S WHAT I WILLINGLY PUT INTO MY BODY MINUTES BEFORE!!!!

Um...MAJOR EEEEWWWWW!!!!  And you know what?  I've done this so many times before without ever noticing what I was doing.  Just kind of mindlessly eating grease and oil.  Might as well just open my bottle of Crisco and pour it in my mouth!  Same effect as what I ate today!  Ugh!

So, what's to be learned from this?  Several things.

1.  Never let myself be without healthy options.  If I had done the grocery shopping yesterday, there'd have been quick, healthy options I could have had for breakfast today.  My laziness/lack of making this a priority put me in the situation where I was in a hurry, didn't have good options that were quick, and didn't make great choices.

2.  Pay attention to what I'm doing.  I'm telling you...I've eaten this sandwich before.  Not often because this fast food establishment isn't one of my normal go-to places.  But it was nearby and I was in a hurry. Not a good combination for my health...but exactly what fast food chains hope for when they choose where to build their restaurants, I think!  I've never once noticed that this is a greasy mess of a meal!  There's just way too often that I mindlessly eat.  That's not a healthy habit, and one that I'm going to have to work to change.

3.  Choose different priorities.  Today, my priority was speed...not health.  Sometimes, you just have to be on time.  I get that.  But I had eggs at home that I could have fixed...they just weren't quick.  I could have gotten up a half an hour earlier and made myself some scrambled eggs that would have been lower calorie, had more protein, and most importantly, would not have added grease and oil to my diet today.  I just didn't leave myself enough time to do that.  Speed was more important than health because I forced myself into that place.  I could have chosen much differently...and I need to own that.

So...I'm not going to beat myself up over this.  But I'm also not going to forget it anytime soon, either.  That image of the grease-soaked bag will stick with me for awhile.  Which is a good thing, actually.  Because it will be a GREAT motivation to NOT repeat this morning's mistakes again. 

Yes, I've come a long, long way in my overall health.  But I still have quite a distance to go.  Thanks for taking the trip with me, friends!  And if you EVER see me with a greasy bag of food...you have my permission to snatch it from me and smack me with it!  Hahaha!!!  

Yeah...not really kidding!  :-)