I feel Yucky

It was beautiful day today, so my sister and I took the kids to Briar Bush Nature Center this afternoon, so we could hike and check out their small collection of animals. They have a pond, and trails, and a bird blind for bird-watching. We had a nice time.

I had misplaced my cell phone, but found it later on the way home, when it flew off the roof of my van. Apparently I had set it on the roof when I was putting Little Grim in the car to go to the nature center. It somehow must have gotten wedged in the roof rack, because it stayed on there for the trip over, and most of the trip home, including a stop at McDonald's. I was able to make a couple of U-turns, and pick it up off the side of the road. The antenna broke off, and it is scuffed up, but luckily no one ran over it. And it still works which I consider a big bonus since I was stupid enough to leave it on the roof.

But the McDonald's stop is what brings me to the 'I feel Yucky' part. As a treat for Little Grim, I had gotten in the habit of stopping at McDonald's for lunch on the two days she has pre-school. She gets the same thing every time - Chicken Nugget Happy meal, fries and a chocolate milk. And a toy, can't forget the toy. And I always got the Southwest Salad with grilled chicken, which was awesome. So we did that twice a week. Then, since my sister and I are competing to lose 20 pounds by Christmas, I decided to look online for the nutritional value of what we were eating.

I was pleasantly surprised that my salad was a respectable 400+ calories or so, with the dressing. Obviously I could do better at home, but I had expected it to be much worse. And it filled me for hours. Little Grim didn't fare so well, and since obesity runs in both our families, we want her to learn good eating habits now. Not to mention that it is extra money we could be spending elsewhere. So, I decided to buy frozen Chicken Nuggets from the grocery store to keep at home to bake in the oven or microwave, as a treat for her.

Back to today - she was hungry after the nature center, and Wednesday is Grimjack's school night, so I don't cook on Wednesdays. So, we went to Mickey D's on the way home, since it was right around the corner from the center and I was feeling extremely lazy. They had the audacity to discontinue the Southwest Salad since the last time I was there. So I 'panicked' and ended up impulsively ordering the stupid # 2 Value Meal (Quarter Pounder with cheese), large, with an unsweetened iced tea. So I binged and ate it all, so now I feel Yucky.

I only did 10 minutes on the treadmill this morning, so now in order to redeem myself I need to get back on later tonight for like...I don't know, a million miles. But there is one thing I'm finally learning about dieting and eating right - if you fall off the wagon, so to speak, you have to forgive yourself and start over the next day, or meal. Nothing is irreversible.

And I'm starting to understand that the scale is just a number, and how we feel is equally, if not more, important. I feel great every day I get on the treadmill, and I have to be more selfish about carving out my time to do it. I stand straighter and have a little more energy, even though my back or feet may bother me. But my back pain (I have bone spurs and spinal arthritis) decreases the more active I am. So it's not just a weight issue - I don't want to be crippled or unable to use steps later in life because I was complacent now.