Friend of Julie: An Unplanned Day

Plans don't always unfold as smoothly as we hope. Things change and suddenly our schedules are turned upside down. We have the opportunity to go with the flow and let go of what our calendar says we were supposed to do. Regardless of the outcome, we always have the option to stay the course with our weight loss program.

 Standing on the porch of my Wickford dream home. 01/17/14.

I made plans weeks ago to meet Mary, whom I visited in Italy last spring, while she was in Rhode Island this week. A few days before she left Long Beach, a health issue came up with one of her relatives and I was on stand-by for details as to when we would get together. Mid-week I still hadn't heard from her and, tick-tock, tick-tock, time was running out. 

Thursday morning and still nothing from Mary, so I decided to take Friday off anyway. Thursday night we connected and agreed to meet at 2:30 at her friend Beth's house. I still didn't know how long our visit would be, what we were doing, or if others would be joining us.

On Friday I got up at 6:30am, made a pot of coffee, and enjoyed my morning coffee vegging out online and watching an Episode of Dexter. While waiting for my milk to froth, I pulled meatballs from my crockpot to cool. I don't usually have breakfast, but about 8 am I felt hungry, so I ate a couple meatballs with my last cup of coffee.

I'm not sure where the time went, but suddenly it was past noon and time for me to hit the road. A few miles from Beth's house I stopped at DnD for a coffee. I about eating something, but I didn't feel that hungry. I was hungrier than I thought, because as I walked toward the door, I was tempted to turn around and ask if I could have the bacon the guy who ordered after me said he didn't want on his sandwich.

Tap, tap, tap. Keep walking.

Mary and I walked through the historic town of Wickford, a familiar place to us, as we grew up in a nearby town. We often come to Wickford when she's in town. Sometimes we shop for antiques or jewelry, perhaps even have lunch. This time we walked to the pier and then explored the neighborhood of homes built in the late 1700's. I didn't pull out my iPhone to take photos until we saw this beautiful new home, which is so new that, according to the sign on the windows, the finish on the wooden floors were still wet.

My Wickford dream house. Hey, a girl's gotta have a dream!

Mary and I walked all around the outside of this house, peeked through the tall doors and windows, and imagined what life would be like living in such a magnificent house on a dead-end street, with water surrounding 2 sides of the property, a dream kitchen with ocean view windows, and a two-car garage with a studio above. "I'd live there" Mary said about the studio. She was not joking.

Our friend Beth called to let us know she had arrived, so we rushed into town to meet her and then we took her to see our house. Beth was confused. "Wait, who's going to buy it?" she asked. Beth didn't know about this game that Mary and I have played for decades when we do these kinds of walks.

Mary and Beth, friend from my childhood.

Three years ago this much walking would have been too much for me to endure. I would not have been able to walk around like this for 2 hours. I would have missed spending time outdoors exploring new and old homes with my friends. I also would have had dinner with Mary's family and eaten everything served, including desert.

Earlier in the day, I arranged to have dinner with my sister-in-law. I knew I'd be quite hungry by dinner time and I wanted to be in an environment where I would have healthy food options. At the restaurant, everything that looked key friendly was coated with flour or breadcrumbs. After hearing me ask so many questions, the waitress asked if I had food allergies. "No," I told her, "I don't eat carbs." I then ordered steak with bay scallops. Lucky for me the waitress, informed me the scallops were breaded and suggested I have them broiled. Wow, I hadn't thought to ask if they would be breaded. Note to self: never stop asking questions about how food is prepared.

For a day with no plans, this day turned out quite nice. I went with the flow. I focused on being in the moment. I let myself feel hunger and I tapped it away. I asked questions about my food options and I made healthy choices. I intentionally fit exercise into my day with friends.

In front of my computer that night, I was happy to see my Fitbit statistics: 12,640 steps! Since the cold weather and snow arrived, my daily average has been between 4,000 to 6,000, far below my daily goal of 10,000.

Fitbit statistics for Friday - yeah I met my 10,000 step goal and then some!

We choose from moment to moment what we want to do with our time and energy. We can plan all we want, but sometimes the best of plans turn out different. With each decision, we affirm our priorities and we move closer to or goals. These are the kinds of decisions each we get to make every day. It all boils down to this one question: how do you want to live your life?

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

What choices are you making today that are helping you reach your goal size?

An unplanned day lead me to this house. Where's your day taking you?