How would she pose a threat?

This week, I faced two major challenges — an 80-year-old woman and an airplane.  Did a little old lady feign that she needed help across the street and then proceed to actually mug me?  Am I afraid of flying?  Nope.  But both presented a serious frontal assault on my journey to a healthier life.

Let me explain. Last weekend, we ventured home (a six and a half hour drive both ways) to celebrate my grandmother’s 80^th birthday.  Simple enough, right?  Well, as many of you know, large family gatherings often turn into a smorgasbord of temptation.  Here’s how mine went down.

Being the “preparer” that I am trying to be, my day started off on the right path:  a banana, bran flakes with skim milk and a low-fat yogurt.  Perfect.  What I didn’t factor in was that the gathering was going to be so far away, so after an extremely late start, by the time we arrived and all the decorations were in place, I was famished.  Which, for me, also meant my logic for making healthy food decisions just flew out the window.

A greasy chicken drumstick, a half a pound of cheese quiche, a gigantic piece of three-layer-cake and a mounding heap of “moose tracks” ice cream, and I felt like poo.  Damn.  At least I passed on the pizza my family ordered later (mainly since I was passed out from a food coma).

Okay, so the old woman got me.  But how would my battle with the plane go?

Round Two

After the whirlwind weekend of sitting in a car, stuffing my face, enjoying my family and then again sitting in a car, I now had the privilege of sitting in a plane.  This time, down and back from Boston in one day to Atlanta for a client meeting.  While I love traveling, these days are killer for maintaining a healthy eating routine.  You pretty much have no choice but to eat out for all meals, which means staring down fare options that are light — light on fruit and vegetables, that is.

This time was going to be different — I refused to lose two battles in one week alone!

Starbucks was my savior for breakfast, with a nice yogurt and fruit parfait (note:  this has more calories than you may think, so be aware that it is a full meal in and of itself).  For lunch, a turkey sandwich on wheat (hold the mayo) loaded with veggie toppings with a small bag of chips made me smile, and there was no food coma for the meeting.  Then, a nice big fruit salad held me over until I got home to enjoy some triscuits with a little cheese.

Success!  So while the first old beast got in a few blows, I came back swinging and felled the aluminum dragon.  Now, I just need to get my jet-setting rear in gear with some much-needed exercise.

Photo Credits:  Cover Image – Stock Xchng member Mokra; Airplane – Pablo Barrios; Woman – Ginny Austin