My right arm- Day 1 (Tricia)

So, today was the first day of my Medifast diet. I started out strong and had a peanut-butter bar, which was surprisingly really good. And throughout the day had a chocolate shake, maple oatmeal, and chili. I guess I was expecting the food to be horrific, so I was surprised at how…OK it was. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t take Medifast meals over Nanny’s spaghetti and meat balls, but after each meal I found myself thinking…ok, not bad..I can work with this. The hardest time was the lapse between my afternoon snack and dinner. And let me tell you why. Things at work got a little busy and I stayed way later than expected. 6pm came fast and I still had to go to the grocery store. By this time I started to feel like everything they say in the book..I got a little headache, I started to feel a little dizzy, and I felt like I could take a little nap. But, I have things to do, so off to the grocery store I went with my meat and veggies list in hand. Let me be the first to tell you that I obviously did NOT think this through. Day 1 of a low calorie diet and pretty starving at this point, I walked into the grocery store to the wonderful aroma of the bakery. Darn (that’s not really what I thought, but I will keep it clean for the kids). It immediately struck me, what was I thinking? I quickly scurried past the delicious smells and walked to the veggies. While filling my cart I suddenly realized just how hungry I was and was thinking (sorry kids) I bet my right arm would taste ok if I just put some pepper on it, I mean don’t we always say “I would give my right arm….” It honestly took me an hour to grocery shop. I wandered around and kept forgetting things and I was suddenly aware that I went back to the same isle 4 times. Hmmm…Note to all my friends out there: grocery shop BEFORE you go on your diet.
Now, I don’t want you to get the impression that I am being pessimistic because I am not. I kept my head high and got out of there without ripping open Nate’s lunch cookies, so good for me. I went home and cooked myself a nice lean hamburger patty and had three veggie servings of asparagus. Delicious, thank you, Mrs. Dash, I will remember to write your company a complementary email. After my dinner I began to think. How is this meal different than my normal dinners? Well, I am glad you asked. It is only the first day but I realized that I truly appreciated my food. I know what you are thinking, I didn’t get this big by not enjoying my food, and don’t get me wrong, I love food. But it was different in some way. I was truly grateful for eating it. Am I on the right track here? When this is done will I continue to be thankful for the food I eat? Every little bite? Gosh I hope so because then I think I will be happy to have the 1 cookie for a snack instead of plowing the box. And that, after all, is the whole point.
So, before I end day one with my chocolate pudding, I wanted to take a second and thank everyone that stopped by my desk today to see how I was doing and my favorite cousin for pushing me and keeping me on the positive side of this experience. Thank you for all of your support and well wishes.