I make myself sick -- literally!

I am always thinking about diet and exercise. I don't always make good decisions, obviously, but it is always in my mind. What that really means is that I should plan ahead, because when I don't know what to do I get stupid with indecision. Seriously, sometimes I have gone to lunch an hour later than planned because I just could not decide. I realize it's ridiculous, but it keeps happening.

The Wednesday before the Fanconi Anemia 5K (February 9th, to be precise), I had not packed a lunch, and it was important to me to get in a walk, because I was getting ready for a big walk. When I am buying lunch, my two favorite places are August Moon and Mandarin Cove. August Moon has really good food, with good prices on their lunch specials, but you need to allow a little bit of time to wait. Mandarin Cove is faster, because they have the food ready to go, only having one lunch special per day. However, on Wednesdays it is Mandarin Chicken, which they use wings for, and eating it is quite messy. I did not want to bother with that eating at my desk.

When I head out for a walk on lunch, going North is easy, East hits the river really quickly, and South and West give me a lot of uphill for a more vigorous workout. It occurred to me to walk uphill to Safeway. I think I had a forty-five minute lunch that day, so I was going to walk for thirty minutes, grab something there, then rush back and eat at my desk.

It was one of those plans that sounds reasonable but then doesn't work, because the lunchtime crowd was building up, and there were lines at the deli, and nothing ready to grab appealed to me, and then when I finally did just pick something the regular register lines were bad too.
I did not want to be late. I did not have cash for the machines. I did have to eat something.

Suddenly I had a brilliant idea. I would go back to work, but then on my last break I would run across to the buffet, fill a carton there, and eat that at my desk. That worked for timing and money, and I had eaten there before. If it was not great, it had not been terrible, and at least one coworker thought it looked good.

I ate at about 2:30, and worked until 6. For that last half hour, I was not feeling great. I was meeting my sisters and a friend for dinner, but Outback Steakhouse was not sounding so good when I felt like there were shards of broken glass churning in my stomach. I thought I could tough it out, by just not eating very much and drinking a Sprite to help things settle.

This is not going to be too graphic, but some people may want to check out now. Anyway, suddenly I really needed to go to the bathroom. I did, and I thought, okay, maybe that will be enough. I returned to the table, and in less than five minutes I needed to go back, and this time there was no sitting down.

My group was fine with leaving, so we took care of that, and I guess the most amazing thing of all is that I was able to remain quiet while we paid, left, during the car ride, and through my sisters' stop at, oh, I think it was Rite-Aid. That part is fuzzy. However, as soon as I walked in the door, I needed to dash to the bathroom again, and I have to say, this is the first time I have really understood what is meant by projectile vomiting. I mean, what I thought it meant seemed like an exaggeration, but now I understood why you would call it that, and it works.

I was quiet through the night, and had every intention of working the next day. I got up, showered, and was about to walk the dogs, but as you can imagine, my mouth was not feeling that fresh. I just wanted a small drink of water to rinse out a bit. That was a mistake. I didn't really think I had anything left to throw up, but I was wrong.

Well, I was still committed to walking the dogs, but after doing that I called in, got undressed, and went back to bed for several hours.

Around 2:30 or 3 (I guess that's why food poisoning is commonly called 24 hour flu), I was able to get up, and when my sisters brought home Little Caesar's for dinner (I know it's junk, but I was not cooking) I ate it without a qualm.

So, basically I was well again, and I worked Friday (and withdrew any recommendations for Cookie Cabana, which turned out to be unnecessary because I was not the only one who made that connection), but at the same time I was still feeling a little weakened. Jettisoning all nutrition along with copious fluids from your body will do that.

I still wanted to do the walk, and I prepared my supply kit (rain poncho, supplies for low blood sugar, etc.), but I did not make it down to pick up my packet Saturday, which meant an especially early departure time Sunday. I set my alarm, and I was really determined to go. I had said I would, and I am stubborn, but I especially did not want to miss this thing that I paid for just because I couldn't find time to make a lunch, or find the mental clarity to make a decision, four days earlier. But then when I woke up it was raining, and I was exhausted, and I surrendered on the spot. Maybe I have gotten a little less stubborn.

But I still say it was all very preventable.

Matthew 21 – 25
No real workout as I am trying to walk off a leg cramp from last night.