False Start

Do you remember Field Day in elementary school?

I had a love/hate relationship with Field Day.  I loved being outside and getting the whole day to play games and be with my friends.  And most of the games were fun.  I was a pro at the egg-in-the-spoon race because I have fairly good balance.  But some of the games I hated beyond belief.

The three legged race wasn't too bad...depending on who I was teamed up with.
The water balloon toss was actually fun.
But the relays and the dashes were totally and completely abhorrent.  I hated them beyond belief.

I always knew that one of two things were absolutely, without a doubt, bound to happen:
I would either A) Come in last place in all the running races.  Or B) I would begin before the coach said, "GO" and everyone would see me, and look at me, and in my mind, laugh at me.

The false start.
The bane of my Field Day fun.

So, for most of my elementary school field days, I would somehow get "lost" about the time the races started.  I wanted no part of the 50 yard dash or the 4 person relay.  I  didn't need that pressure.

So, that reminds me of what happened this last week.
I had a false start.
Not exactly the same type of false start that haunted my adolescent years, but a different false start that showed me I wasn't quite as mentally prepared as I thought I was.

Last week I attempted to start the Weight Watcher's Simply Filling technique.
Well...it didn't go quite as I had hoped.

I had planned well.
Organized my pantry and refrigerator.
I even had listed out all the foods I was prepared to snack on throughout the week to keep me on track.

And then reality hit.
And I realized that I wasn't quite ready for it.

This was really not the best week to start something new like the Simply Filling technique.
After a month and a half of summer freedom, I had four days of workshops and classes, which meant four days of eating out.  The Simply Filling technique, while it is awesome in many ways, is not very conducive to eating out.  It's a little difficult to find lean meats, veggies and fruits, and whole grains that haven't been smothered, covered, batter-dipped, or deep fried in one way or another.

I made a few fledgling attempts to stay on plan, but by Wednesday I had lost my oomph.

So, I had a false start.
Someone threw the penalty flag, and now I have to go back to the beginning.
That's okay though.  Tomorrow begins a week where I can feel more in control.  I don't need to eat out as much, and I don't have excuses to eat foods that aren't on plan this week.

So, I'm lacing up my shoes again.
And getting ready to knuckle down and start again.