June 5: Real World RFL ~ McDonald's

Today we went on a school field trip.  I felt lucky to get a chance to go to the Children's Museum with my kids with no money out of pocket, given our current financial situation.  The bus trip and admission were taken care of by a community organization, and the museum is set in a beautiful extensive urban park.

I carefully packed lunches for us in my big go-everywhere cooler bag.

I brought, cheese, crackers, carrots, grape tomatoes, peaches, blackberries, granola bars, and for myself, 2 cans of tuna mixed with some fat-free mayo and seasonings and a baggie of cucumber slices.





I sat with the grandma of one of my daughter's friends on the bus.  I don't know if it just seemed this way, but all she talked about was food.  Potato salad, pizza and wings, birthday cake, fresh strawberries, roast beef that had to be described in all it's succulent glory.  I wasn't really hungry but it had me craving all those foods.

And then we went to McDonald's.  Dum dum dummmmm.......

Never has a menu looked so mouthwatering.  Never has a mish mash of potatoes and chemicals smelled more tempting.  The photos of the food tantalized me with the fresh-looking ingredients.  Now, clearly, I know the food is not as good as is pictured, but wow - it just about killed me.

I ordered a Diet Coke for myself and ice cream cones for the kids.  Then I sat down at the table with another family and quietly pulled my tuna out of my cooler bag. It was the crappiest tuna I've ever eaten.  I'm sure there was really nothing worse about this tuna than any other tuna I have eaten (I'm not really a fan but it's cheap and a good source of RFL protein) but in the midst of the Big Macs, fries and McFlurries, it really seemed quite substandard.

A few people looked at me strangely.  One mom loudly exclaimed over how healthy I was.  She loudly exclaimed it several times.  It's really hard to subtly eat tuna at McDonald's when someone is commenting on it. 

So today, my first venture out with others when it wasn't an off-plan meal, I survived the trip into the real world with my RFL diet intact.   I didn't succumb to temptation.  I deserve to lose this weight.  The last 10 pounds will come off because, today, eating tuna at McDonald's, I felt like I was made of iron.  My resolve won't waver because I'm almost there and there's no way in the world I will stop with the goal so close.